Don't Stop the Feeling
by runninequalslife
Summary: Gabriella's life has always revolved around dancing. But when she attends a summer dance camp in Mexico and meets East High's basketball captain, Troy Bolton, will she find there's more to life then what she thought before?
1. Trailer

**Title: **Don't Stop the Feeling

**Rating: **M

**A/N: **So, I'm going to give this story a shot. It's different then anything that I've come up with, so I really hope you like it. The first chapter will probably be up tomorrow morning. So let me know what you think! Thanks!

**Diclaimer: **I don't own anything from High School Musical or Disney. I don't own any hotels, restaurants, places, or anything in Mexico. I don't own any songs or lyrics. And finally, there are some Step Up parallels to this, so I don't own that either.

* * *

**Trailer**

_Gabriella Montez was new to Albuquerque._

"You must be the new girl." The dark girl says and holds out her hand. "I'm Taylor McKessie."

Gabriella smiles and takes it. "Gabriella Montez."

"Where'd you move from?" She asks.

Gabriella sighs. "San Diego. My mom's company transferred her to Albuquerque." She says while looking at her bag sitting on the bed.

"She made you move starting your senior year? That sucks." Taylor exclaims.

"You're telling me." Gabriella mumbles.

_The most important thing to her was dancing._

"So… how long have you been dancing for?" The councilor asks and everyone's eyes look up at her. Gabriella looks around nervously.

"Since I could walk." She says honestly and sits back down in the chair trying to make herself unnoticed.

_Her mom signs her up to go to a dance camp for the summer._

"I don't want to go mom!" Gabriella exclaims while sitting in the car with her arms crossed.

"You'll be on the beach everyday. You're HOTEL is on the beach! What more could you want?" Her mother asks her and Gabriella shakes her head.

"I don't wanna go." She pouts. "I don't understand why I half to! I'm not going to know anyone!"

"The principle said that most of the girls on the East High dance team attend this camp. It will be a great way to bond with them. You'll meet new friends in no time." Her mother explains.

"I don't want to meet new friends. I want my old ones!" She exclaims and pouts again.

_The camp is located on the beaches of Baja California, Mexico._

"I can't believe the school would sponsor us to go to Mexico for a camp!" Gabriella exclaims and shakes her head while staring off into the sea, with the wind playing with her hair.

Taylor sighs and leans up against the railing. "It's one of the best out there, and is probably one of the reasons why we're so good. We do it every year. Us and the basketball team. We fund raise a lot…"

"Wait… the basketball team is here too? How come I haven't seen them?" Gabriella asks curiously.

"Oh… you will… don't worry." Taylor says while looking out into the ocean again.

_The East High basketball team was in the hotel next to theirs, with their captain, Troy Bolton, leading them._

"Dude… did I ever mention how much I LOVE this place?" Chad Danforth asks while watching two girls in bikinis walking by their chairs.

"Only every time we come down here." He says and winks as the two girls giggle and walk away.

_He's one of the cockiest people anyone would ever meet._

"Come on… get your ass moving!" Troy yells as one of the players takes a shot and misses completely. His team looks up at him with a shocked looks on their faces.

"I'd like you see you try that." He says and Troy rolls his eyes.

"Fine… Ball!" He yells and runs down the court. He makes the half court shot in with nothing but net. "That's how it's done." Troy spits out smirking.

_But below the surface, he has a soft heart._

"You gotta use you're knees more." Troy explains while demonstrating to the younger player. "Then push off with the balls of your feet. Try it."

The kid listens and a smile forms on his face. "Wow… that does help. Thanks."

Troy shrugs. "No problem."

_What happens when they meet?_

"So… you must be the sick ass dancer that's coming to East High. You're supposed to be the best." Troy says while eying her up.

Gabriella raises her eyebrow. "I wouldn't say that."

Troy smirks. "Everyone's been talking about you."

"Yea?" She asks and smiles slightly. "And who are you?"

Troy laughs cockily. "You don't know who I am?" She shakes her head and he smirks. "Troy… Troy Bolton."

Gabriella nods and picks up her bag. "Ok, well the cockiness level is too much for me… I guess I'll see you around Troy." She says and starts walking away.

"Wait! You never told me your name!" Troy calls and Gabriella turns around and smirks back at him and leaves the room without another word.

_Will they discover something between them?_

"You're different then anyone I've ever met." Troy says while Gabriella looks up at him, dipping her feet in the cool salty ocean.

"Why? Because I won't let you get into my pants after just looking at you?" She asks with a smile and Troy shakes his head.

"No… You just… are." He says and smiles at her. "And I like it…"

_Or were they meant to stay apart?_

"You are unbelievable!" Gabriella screams. People in the lobby turn and look at the two.

"Look, Gabi, I'm sorry alright?" He says trying to hush her voice. "I didn't mean…"

"You didn't mean to? Well guess what Troy, you did!" She screams and storms angrily away

_Troy Bolton_

"I'm sorry ok? I know it doesn't make up for anything, but I am…" Troy says while Gabriella stares down at him from her balcony. "I've never felt this way about anyone before."

_Gabriella Montez_

"I just…" Gabriella sighs. "I don't know what to do. I've been like this all my life… I've never trusted people after they've let me down."

"So you can't trust him now. No one can." Taylor says and Gabriella sighs again.

"But that's the problem."

Taylor's eyebrow rises. "What is?"

"I want to trust him."

_Can they make it?_

"Dancing is my life… it has been since I could walk. And here you show up... and you make me feel like there's something just as important." Gabriella explains with a tear in her eye.

"What?" Troy asks while his voice was cracking.

"Love." She says and Troy suddenly kisses her.


	2. Bienvenido

It was the pitter patter of the feet floating across the stage that made her fall in love.

It was the sweat rolling down her face, threatening to ruin her stage make up. The way the costumes glowed through the dark stage as they twisted and turned throughout the performance. The way her long legs folded and leapt with such grace that made her make a soft "pat" while she landed. It was the hundreds of jazz, ballet and hip hop shoes that piled up in her closet so she had more of them then normal shoes. Something about the way her body was flown through the air with turns that would make anyone else dizzy for weeks. It was the bright white smile that shown on her face through out the entire thing even if she messed up the whole routine.

The way the music pumped through her body, driving her adrenaline over the edge. The feeling of her heart racing and her palms sweating as the heavy curtain rose to reveal hundreds of judging people. It was the acid tears that fell backstage after the screwed up routine was finished, but no one else noticed. It was the leap in her heart when the audience's hands were hitting each other and they all stood up to praise the art she had just made come to life.

Dancing was what she lived for. There was nothing else that compared to it. Nothing would ever give her the same pleasure that being on stage did. It was the reason she was born. God made her a dancer. It was like she had no other purpose. Nothing would ever make her heart feel the way dancing did. She fell in love with the art, a love that could never be compared to. It was the one thing she loved, the only thing she loved.

That is, until she met Troy Bolton.

* * *

The small car slows to a stop and parks in the empty parking space in the overhead. The driver turns off the ignition and the car stops dead. The woman driving, who had straight brown hair so dark it was almost black, light brown eyes and tan skin looks down at the person staring straight ahead in the passenger's seat. The driver sighs as she looks straight ahead in the direction the girl in the passenger's seat was staring at and takes a deep breath. "Honey, come on, it's time to go."

The petite girl in the passenger seat shakes her head and continues to glare out the front window. "I'm not going." She says with defiance in her voice. The girl closes her deep dark chocolate brown eyes and runs a hand through her almost black hair that mirrored her mothers, only her hair fell into large curls that framed her face. Her thick hair was so long it danced across her back half way down. Her smooth skin was extremely tan from her Hispanic background it looked sun kissed.

"Ella, you are going." The mother, Maria Montez, exclaims and shakes her head.

The girl sighs angrily. Gabriella Montez had only one word that could describe her, and that was dancer. It was her passion. It was her calling. Ever since she was three years old, she was dancing like there was nothing else in the world. She couldn't even describe the happiness it had made her feel. It was a passion, no, it was more then a passion. It was like an obsession to her. "I don't want to go mom!" Gabriella exclaims while crossing her thin toned arms.

"You'll be on the beach everyday. You're HOTEL is on the beach! What more could you want?" Her mother asks her and Gabriella shakes her head.

Maria Montez had signed her up for a dance camp after they had first move to Albuquerque, New Mexico two weeks ago. She had lived all her life in San Diego, until her mom got a company transfer that would offer her a lot more money. They had visited what would be her high school this fall, East High, and met the principal. He had asked her if she had played any sports and her mother immediately informed him about her passion for dancing. The principal then jumped in and told her how their dance was one of the best in the entire Southwestern area. At first, Gabriella thought that was stupid. She wasn't going to shake pom poms all day. But then she found out that it wasn't a pom's team. No, instead it was an actual dance team, and they practiced in a studio down the street and only competed on stage, with a jazz/ hip hop dance. So her mom signed her up anyways and the principal informed them about an optional summer camp that was held in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California. Her mother, believing it would be a great idea to get to know some of the other girls, signed her up for that as well, without Gabriella's permission.

"I don't wanna go." She pouts. "I don't understand why I half to! I'm not going to know anyone!" She wanted her way for this, but she knew it was a hopeless cause.

"The principle said that most of the girls on the East High dance team attend this camp. It will be a great way to bond with them. You'll meet new friends in no time." Her mother explains.

"I don't want to meet new friends. I want my old ones!" She exclaims and pouts again. Her mother had ripped her away from all of her old friends when they moved two weeks ago. It hurt like hell. She had known them all of her life and couldn't believe her mother would make her move the summer before senior year. She knew it would be better for her mother in the long run, but come on! Couldn't she just wait a year and a half?

No. So Gabriella was stuck saying goodbye to her friends when that was the last thing she wanted to do. And now, her mom was forcing her to go to this camp that she didn't want to go to at all. Why should she go to a completely different country without anyone she knew and expect to make friends? She didn't want to do it, and was starting to hate her mother for making her do this. She already ruined her life, and now she was going to ruin her summer.

"Look, Ella. I know you're going to miss your friends. But I think this move will be really good for both of us ok? Just… try to stay positive. Now let's go before you miss your plane." Mrs. Montez says and opens the door. Gabriella sighs angrily. Maybe she wanted to miss the plane!

Both Montez women get out of the small car and pop the trunk. They grab Gabriella's two light blue suitcases and her purple duffle bag from the back and then start walking in silence towards the airport. Gabriella's head was still spinning. The principal of East High, Mr. Matsui, had informed them that most of the other girls went down yesterday. The camp didn't actually start until tomorrow, and Gabriella couldn't get a flight down with the other girls since the flight was full. So they were sending her down with this flight, which she wasn't upset about. She didn't know anyone anyways, so it wasn't like she was missing much.

After making it inside the airport, they get her boarding pass and make it through baggage check. The two women walk up the stairs to the next level, where Gabriella could read the signs that pointed to security. With a glance at the clock, her flight left in forty minutes. So she turns to her mother for the first time since their argument in the car and sighs. "I guess this is it." Her mother informs her and Gabriella gives her a small smile.

Although she was angry at her mother for making her go to this camp against her will, she could still feel the small tears form in her eyes as she faces her. Her mom was like her best friend. They had been in everything together since the fateful night that she never talked about when she was ten years old. Through all of the dance recitals, puberty, her first boyfriend, everything. It would be the longest she had ever been away from her mom, a whole summer. That was three months out of her life. "Please don't make me go." Gabriella whispers as a tear slips down her face.

"It will be good for you." Mrs. Montez exclaims as her own tears slip down her face. "Be good ok?" She says while Gabriella finds a familiar place in her mother's arms as the silent tears fall down her face faster. "You'll find friends in no time." She reassures while she stroked Gabriella's thick curly hair. "Call alright?"

Gabriella nods and looks up to see her mother's make up was now streaming down her face. "I will. I promise." She says.

Her mother gives her a kiss and then another on the forehead. "Have fun Ella." She exclaims and Gabriella tries to give her a smile. The youngest Montez picks up her oversized brown purse from the floor and gives her mom one more hug. "I love you." Her mom says and Gabriella feels a smile come onto her face.

"I love you too." She says and takes a step back. "Bye Mom."

"Bye Gabriella." Her mom waves and Gabriella takes in a deep breath. This was it, she had to leave her, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. So she turns around and walks towards the security gate and puts her purse inside a bucket and slides it through. She turns around one more time to see her mom waving with tears streaming down her face. Gabriella waves one more time and takes another deep breath, before stepping through the security gate, as if taking a step towards her new life, and away from her old.

* * *

As she set her foot down in her grey Nike tennis shoes from the airplane, the sun suddenly beats down onto her body as a huge wave of humidity takes over. She could feel her grey fitted t-shirt begin to stick to her body as her white sweat pants that were scrunched up her knees as sweat started to collect on her body. She reaches inside her brown oversized purse and grabs out her pair of black sunglasses and scrunches her hair that was already starting to curl more than it already was. After the flight, it was good to get her feet on the ground again. Although, this was very uncommon for Gabriella. Usually when she flew, they'd just pull up to a terminal. This time though, they had them step outside and wait for a bus to come and take to customs.

Gabriella suddenly looks through her sunglasses and tries not to gasp in awe. It was beautiful; she wasn't going to deny that. The sky was a pure blue with absolutely no clouds in it. The sun beat down with rays that she could almost see. There were grey rocky mountains jetting up in the distance. Basically, she felt like she just stepped out of a tourist brochure. But she suddenly feels a cloud of hot smoke come her way and she turns to see that she was standing right in front of the bus fumes.

Her feet carry her to the front of the bus where people were impatiently waiting to get inside. She continues to look around in amazement and wonder until it was finally her turn to step onto the bus, immediately feeling the air-conditioning taking over. She decides to make her way into the back and stands while she holds the top railing and watches as the bus doors close. She stumbles a little as they start moving towards the bright white building. It was at that moment that her mind started to spin out of control.

Now that she was in Mexico, what was next? Sure, she'd get a cab and then head over to the hotel, but then what? What happened once she got there? Of course, she'd have to get to her room. But what if she had a roommate? Gabriella was confident, but she hated first meeting people. It was always the most awkward experiences of her life. Plus, she was pretty sure she wouldn't get along with these girls. They had probably all formed their own little clicks that she wouldn't relate to since it was her first year, and she was a senior.

The bus finally slows to a stop and she looks up to find that they were against the white building. She waits until the rest of the bus fills out and then looks at the bus drive quickly. "Gracias." She says quickly as the large guy in the front seat gives her a smile in return. Gabriella steps off the bus and then follows the other people into the busy area. She sighs as she stands at the back of the line and waits to get through.

After about fifteen minutes, a small man with tan skin and an ugly black uni-brow smiles at her. "Bienvenido a Cabo San Lucas! Buenos tardes! Cómo estás?"

Gabriella feels a smile come to her face as she suddenly remembers being around her large Hispanic family and picking up little Spanish. "Muy Buena." She says with a smile and he returns it.

"Dónde está su pasaporte?" He asks and Gabriella suddenly realizes that he must believe she was from Mexico and could speak fluent Spanish because she could blend in as a local here. Even though she knew he was asking for her passport, she suddenly freezes.

"Hablo un poco español." She says, which meant "I speak little Spanish".

The man laughs and shakes his head. "My apologizes. It thought you were from here." He says in English quickly and Gabriella giggles a little.

"It's ok." She says.

"Can I see your passport?" He asks and Gabriella nods, then hands over the small book with her ugly picture plastered inside. Who actually took a good passport picture anyways? He goes over a few things with her and then smiles and nods, handing it back to her. "So you are staying at the Playa el Amor? Very nice hotel. Just take a cab; it's about a forty-five minute drive from here. Enjoy your stay at Cabo San Lucas!" The man says and Gabriella nods.

"Gracias." She says with a smile.

"Adios!" He says and Gabriella walks through the medal detectors.

After another half hour at the baggage claim, and then another ten minutes finding a cab, Gabriella found herself sitting in the back seat of the white cab as they started to finally make their way to her hotel. Nerves were finally starting to settle in her stomach as she looked out the window to see that palm trees were lining up against the side of the interstate and she could see the deep blue glow of the ocean. It really was paradise, and she knew it. She just wished that she wasn't here under these circumstances.

Sure, any girl would KILL to go to a dance camp in Mexico for the summer. Especially someone who was as dance obsessed as Gabriella. But she didn't want to go, at all. She knew she wasn't going to make any friends, plus she was pretty sure that the girls could dance circles around her. They were the best in the South West, right? Sure, she had been in a young company since she was twelve, but these girls must have been good too. It wasn't that she was anti-social or anything. It was the exact opposite really, she loved people. And people loved her too. She could say she was in the "popular" group at her old school, but she really didn't care much either way. She didn't care about what other people thought about her, which might have been one of the reasons why she was so likable.

A sigh escapes from her throat again. She didn't know how exactly she was going to make it through this entire summer and senior year. Maybe if she just tried to stay in the background and try to avoid everyone else, she could get by. Of course, that was stupid. She wouldn't be able to do that since she loved being around people way to much. Another sigh erupts from her mouth. Why was this so damn hard? Why did her mom make her move right before senior year? She suddenly feels the car come to a stop, bringing her out of her trance. The driver turns around and gives her an extremely large smile. "Bienvenido a Playa el Amor!" She knew he had just given her a welcome.

She opens the cab door and suddenly her mouth drops in shock. She was standing below a gigantic building. It was a peach-yellow color with stories that had to have reached up to at least seven. Each room seems to jut out in the windows and it seemed that most of the rooms looked to have balconies. There were palm trees that lined up the sides of the entrance as she gasped; not actually believing this was the hotel she'd be staying at for three months. It was beautiful, no, it was paradise. "Ummm… this can't be right." Gabriella says in shock and the cab driver looks up at her from inside.

"Playa el Amor? This is the place." He says with a heavy accident. Gabriella shakes her head in shock again. This was unbelievable.

After getting both light blue suitcases and her purple duffle bag out of the trunk, she pays the cab driver and then watches as he speeds off. She takes another look at the amazing building and sighs. This would be her home for three months; there was no turning back now.

Gabriella slings her duffle bag over her shoulder and then struggles to roll the two very heavy suitcases. She had to remember to get a bellboy to take this up to her room. But as she steps inside the air-conditioned doors, her mouth drops once again. The lobby was gigantic. It seemed that the ceilings reached the heavens as the room had light spilling inside. The floors were a light hardwood, along with the pale yellow on the walls. There were brown couches and art work every where. She looks out the back to see that it was pure glass and she could see the ocean, not to mention what looked like a gigantic pool. Basically, this hotel made her feel like a million dollars.

She hadn't noticed before, since she was too entranced with the amazing inside, but there was a girl sitting on one of the brown couches. The girl gets up and Gabriella finally notices her. The girl was taller then she was by at least two inches. She had long, stick straight blonde hair that reached past her elbows. The girl was wearing white heels, which Gabriella found extremely unpractical, a jean skirt and a light baby blue beater with what looked like silver sparkles on the top. As the girl stopped in front of her, Gabriella noticed her light brown eyes that had bits of green flickered in them. The girl smiles her bright white teeth at her. "Are you Gabrielle Montez?" She asks and Gabriella smiles a little.

"It's Gabriella." She says and the blonde's face blushes a little.

"Sorry. Gabriella. You're here for East High right?" The girl asks in an extremely perky attitude. It scared Gabriella a little bit and she nods slowly and the girl's teeth show from a smile once again. "I'm Sharpay Evans, senior co-captain of the East High dance team. And let me be the first to say… welcome to paradise."

The girl, Sharpay, gives her a quick hug that Gabriella takes by surprise. "Um… thank you." Gabriella says in shock as the girl brings her back around again beaming at her. The girl had an air of importance to her. Like she knew she was great. But she also had an extremely positive attitude to her.

"We should get you your room." Sharpay says and snaps her fingers. Almost instantly, a bellboy arrives at her side. It was almost as if she was used to this special treatment all the time. "We're checking in Gabriella… Montez." She yells to one of the workers who was sitting, looking bored at the counter. Sharpay walks over to where he was as he plugs in a couple things on a computer. Gabriella stands there, feeling extremely stupid all of the sudden. But Sharpay walks back with a smile on her face and flashing a pocket piece of paper in her hands. "Take these to 228." She tells the bellboy who nods and puts her two suitcases and duffle bag onto a trolley.

"It's ok… I can get them." Gabriella starts to protest but Sharpay responds, linking her arm with her own and walking further into the hotel.

"Nonsense." She says and Gabriella tries to give the bellboy an apologetic look, but he seemed to be used to it. "The other captain should have been down here to, but it's just like Amber to skip it." She says like she had known Gabriella her whole life. Who was Amber? But then it clicked that Amber must have been the other captain of the team. "Anyways, I read your transcripts that Matsui gave us, and holy shit we're so happy you joined."

'Against my will' Gabriella thinks to herself, but tries to plaster a smile that could barely fool anyone.

"I mean, you were in a dance company! God… that's like… incredible." Sharpay says as they make their way to the elevators and Sharpay presses the up button. This girl seemed completely weird to Gabriella. She was completely open and honest about everything. But Gabriella had to keep an open mind. She was her captain wasn't she? "Damn… you have to be insanely good." She exclaims and Gabriella feels her cheeks begin to blush.

"I'm not that good…" She says even though she knew she was. The elevator door opens and both girls step inside, Sharpay still having their arms linked. The blonde presses the two button and Gabriella suddenly realizes how stupid it was that they didn't just walk up a level.

"Don't be stupid." She says and shakes her head. "If you've got it, don't be afraid to show it off." The elevator doors open again and they begin to make their way down the hallway. Gabriella was glancing at numbers as she went. They were on an area that looked like a courtyard. All of the rooms were on the outside walls and inside she could see that there were palm trees growing from the level before. The ceiling was wide open and she was pretty sure that they would get wet if it ever rained. "I think you're rooming with Taylor…" She says and Gabriella raises an eyebrow. That meant absolutely nothing to her. "She's like my best friend, so don't worry." She says as Gabriella glances at the numbers again and suddenly feels Sharpay stop. "This is it."

Gabriella finally peels her arm away from Sharpay's and takes the key out of the paper folder. She slides it through, watches as the light turns green, and opens the light brown door. She walks inside what would be her room for another three months and sighs as she hears Sharpay's footsteps follow her in. The floor was a nice tile and the walls were off white. There was a TV sitting on a large counter where she could also see a mini bar. That was across from two white beds with a strip of striped comforter against a wooden headboard. She quickly glances to the side to see that the bathroom was white and cute. Her head turns back around to see that they had a little balcony that had a beautiful view of the crystal blue ocean. "Home sweet home." Gabriella mumbles as she sees her two suit cases and her duffle bag was already brought up.

"I guess Tay's not here." Sharpay says and Gabriella looks to see that there was one large black suitcase at the foot of the bed closest to her. That meant Gabriella got the bed closest to the window. "Ok… are you going to be alright?" She asks and Gabriella turns back around to face her.

"I'll be fine." She says with a smile. Sure, the girl was probably insane, but Gabriella found something about her that she liked.

"If you need anything…" Sharpay says while grabbing a pad of paper from the table that the hotel provided. "Call me on my cell." She says while writing something down. "Or stop by room 612." She says and then rips the paper off the pad and hands it to Gabriella. "Taylor should be back soon. She knew you were coming but we all thought your flight was going to be delayed." She explains. "We're probably going to go out to diner tonight as a team, since tomorrow the actual camp starts. So… we'll call you or Taylor with the details."

Gabriella gives her a quick nod. "Thanks Sharpay." She says and tries not to laugh. Who named their kid Sharpay anyways?

"Anytime. Feel free to call and chat! I'll probably be down later to make sure you're settled. And I'll try to get Amber's bitchy ass down here." She says with a tone that Gabriella picked up that she didn't like her co-captain too much. "Anyways. I'll see ya later." She says and smiles at her. "Bye Gabriella!"

Gabriella gives her a weak smile as Sharpay opens the door up and gives her a quick wave, then disappears from site. She sighs and runs a hand through her curly hair. It was going to be the beginning of a long summer.

* * *

**A/N: **I know this chapter's slow, but it's a first chapter, so I hope you like it. Thanks so much for giving this a shot! 


	3. Roommates

No one knew why he was so incredible.

Maybe it was the way he could make a three point shot from the opposite free throw line. Maybe it was the way he walked, showing off his calf muscles. Maybe it was the way his chestnut brow hair fell right over his matching eyebrows. Maybe it was the way his body was perfectly sculpted. His pecks and six packs could be seen even if he was wearing a shirt. No… it was something completely different. If it was his appearance, it had to be his perfect, piercing blue eyes that were as beautiful as the Pacific Ocean itself.

It was almost as if the air he breathed in and exhaled was holy. He was basically flawless. The most perfect guy, most girls would comment. And the guys? They all either hated him with all their might because of his perfection, or they wanted to be his best friend because that would give them instant popularity. Most of the time it was the latter. He was almost like a god, since he could easily have played basketball with Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O'Neal and not be intimidated.

Basically, if perfection had a human form, it would be called Troy Bolton.

The water drips down his perfect six pack and formed pecks. The going to be senior in high school grabs the white towel that was sitting on the beach chair and wipes his face while the blazing Mexican sun beat down onto his sculpted back. He then sits down in the white beach chair, stretching his legs out into a lying position. The sun's rays hit his body and he could almost feel the water evaporating immediately. Behind him was a gigantic pale yellow hotel, El Mexicano Sueños, that over looked the Gulf of Cortez. He was sitting besides a pool that winded around, looking like a river beside the ocean.

He shakes his head a little to dry off his completely soaked hair and he hears someone groan beside him. "Dude, can you not act like a dog around me?"

The dark skinned boy sitting next to him suddenly sits up. His body was formed, just like Troy's was, but it wasn't as defined. He had deep brown eyes that if you didn't look closely, they looked black. But his trademark, was sitting on the top of his head. He had a gigantic afro that was half the size of California that slightly fell over his eyes. The guy squints over at Troy. "Sorry Chad."

Chad Danforth was Troy's best friend. It was very rare that you found one without the other. Ever since they were in preschool, the two had been best friends, thick and thin. Chad had basically been Troy's long lost brother since then, since Troy didn't have any siblings. Both of them shared a common love, and that was basketball. Although Troy was basically guaranteed to go pro and was the captain of the East High varsity team with his dad as the head coach, Chad was just as dedicated as he was. "How's the pool?"

Troy smirks over at his best friend as he stretches back and closes his eyes. "Amazing. You should go in." He responds and sighs. The pool water was starting to be replaced by sweat as he could feel his already tan skin starting to become tanner. The East High varsity basketball team had arrived in Cabo San Lucas yesterday, on the same flight that the dance team (even though it wasn't really a team, they had no idea what else to call it) had arrived on as well. Troy was rooming with Chad, of course, and they had basically been out by the pool all day today, even though it was still only two in the afternoon.

"Dude… did I ever mention how much I LOVE this place?" Chad Danforth asks while watching as two girls in bikinis walk by their chairs. The girls were slim and had toned bodies, and Troy figures that they came from the hotel next door that was holding most of the girls who had a dance camp during the same time as the basketball camp. Both camps were supposed to be the best there was, and Troy had been coming down here ever since he joined the varsity team the summer of freshman year, so it was his third time. He was on varsity reserves that year, but it didn't matter much. The other guys in his grade had joined the summer of sophomore year, when they call came on varsity reserves and Troy had been moved up to starting varsity.

"Only every time we come down here." He says and winks as the two girls giggle and walk away. That was the only thing about Troy that was misleading. He was a huge flirt, there was no denying that. But who wasn't when they were seventeen years old? He had two actual girlfriends his freshman year, but that was it, not including the middle school flings that everyone had. It was weird for most people, because here was this extremely cocky guy, who knew he was hot and knew he was a great basketball player, and wasn't afraid to show it, but he was also one of the nicest guys you would ever meet, once you got below the surface. Troy would hook up with a girl for a one night stand every once in awhile, but it wasn't anything major. It wasn't like he was having sex every week or anything like that.

Troy opens his eyes and looks over to see that Chad was now sitting up, scratching his arm. He was staring at something in the distance. Troy's eyes follow where Chad's were and he looks to see a dark girl walking along the beach. Although you couldn't tell from here, Troy knew exactly who it was. He smirks and looks at his best friend. "You know… you should stop being a stalker and go catch her."

Chad's eyes quickly avert from the girl and look at Troy for a moment. "What the hell are you talking about?" He asks, trying to play dumb but Troy just rolls his eyes.

"I'm talking about McKessie!" He says and watches as a blush floods on Chad's cheeks. Troy smiles again. "How was the hour you got to sit with her on the plane yesterday?"

"I only did it cuz you were being boring." Chad exclaims and Troy nods, agreeing that he was since he basically listened to his ipod and slept the whole way down. "Plus Zeke wanted to sit by Sharpay and Jason wanted to sit by your boring ass."

"Whatever Chad." Troy says sarcastically. "So how's Taylor anyways?"

Taylor McKessie. She was the girl Troy knew Chad had had a crush on for half of last year. She wasn't your typical girl, Taylor was the only girl who Troy actually knew of that enjoyed doing homework and read on her spare time. Not that she was a geek or anything, far from. She hung out with the jocks and you could say the popular group, but she also loved school. Troy was friends with her even before Chad liked her because she was usually one of the only ones in his honor's math class or something.

That was another thing about Troy that was misleading. He was smart. Extremely smart actually. He was ranked fifth in his class. Most people would have believed that the captain of the basketball team would probably not care much about school. That was wrong. It wasn't that Troy hated school; he could actually say he liked it, but he just hated homework and thought it was a waste of time.

Troy actually was extremely misleading. He had so many secrets it was hard to name them all. Most people viewed him as the basketball God, but there were many layers to Troy. Not even Chad knew all of them. Sure, he knew most of them, but not all. People would be extremely surprised to see what was under the number 14's jersey.

"Good I guess. How would I know?" Chad asks with a sheepish grin on his face that made Troy laugh.

"Maybe the fact that you're in love with her." He says and Chad shakes his head.

"I'm not in love with her." He argues and Troy rolls his eyes.

"Sure. Whatever you say Chad." Troy exclaims, patting his best friend on the back and lying back onto his beach chair once again.

Troy suddenly feels a shadow looming over him as his eyes open back up again. Standing about him were two guys his age beaming down at the two. One of them had dark skin, a little darker then the color of Chad's. He had a beaming smile that showed off his bright white teeth. His hair was black and actually looked like a basketball player's head. There was something about his appearance that actually made him look nice, which he was. The other boy had jet black hair that fell and looked a little messy. His eyes were brown and his skin was tan, but not as tan as Troy's. He was the shortest of the four of them while the other guy was the tallest. Troy smiles up at his other two best friends who were both dressed in swimsuits also. "Hey guys, what's up?" Chad says and both of them shrug.

"We were looking for you guys." The dark boy, Zeke Baylor, exclaims. "Loverboy over here just got off the phone with his girlfriend."

Jason Cross, the other guy blushes and Troy smiles. Jason had been dating his girlfriend, Kelsi Neilson, for six months now. The thing Troy liked most about them was the fact that Kelsi wasn't part of the "jocks" or anything like that. In fact, she was very much into the theater and was an incredible pianist. She was extremely shy, so Troy didn't talk to her much, but from when he had talked to her, he thought she was a really great girl. "You're one to talk." Jason says to Zeke.

Zeke was dating the co captain of the dance team, Sharpay Evans. Sharpay was extremely obnoxious in Troy's eyes, but there was something about her that he liked. Maybe it was her perky attitude that drew people in, but whatever it was, it was working for her. Sharpay's family was incredibly rich, with her father owning a line of hotels. He was pretty sure she owned at least five maids, a cook, and a butler. "I haven't seen Shar at all today. She's greeting this new girl or something."

Troy's eyes look up. New girl? What new girl? "Yea… I heard about her. Taylor said she's rooming with her yesterday." Chad exclaims and blushes when all of the guys look at him with grins when he talks about Taylor. "What?"

"Obsessed?" Troy says and shakes his head. "I never heard about it." He exclaims and all three guys look at him like he's crazy.

"Really? She's supposed to be the shit." Chad exclaims.

"I heard she was on Broadway." Jason exclaims and Troy rolls his eyes. He seriously doubted a girl in Albuquerque was on Broadway. But that was high school rumors for you.

"I doubt it." Troy says and all the guys shrug.

"I don't know. Sharpay said she was in a dance company or something." Zeke explains and Troy puts on an impressed face. Sure, the girls were good. But it must have been nothing like what this girl could do.

"Well. That's good for them I guess?" Chad says. The team was extremely good, and always had the support of the school, community, and especially the basketball team. But Troy noticed that they always seemed to be missing a little something. Their routines were good, but they weren't as creative as what he thought it should look like. Oh well, it wasn't his problem. All he had to worry about was basketball, not dance.

"Sounds like they're in for some nice shit." Troy says while leaning back and closing his eyes again, feeling the Mexican rays beat down onto his stomach once again.

* * *

Gabriella felt the wind play with her hair as she looked out onto the beach. She really should have been unpacking, but she wasn't sure where to put things since her roommate wasn't here. That was scaring her. What if her roommate hated her and they had to go through three months together? Sharpay said this girl was one of her best friends, so she should be sort of like her right? Sharpay gave her the impression of being someone extremely upbeat. Would her roommate be like that? She imagines her being so much like Sharpay. Blonde flowing hair, tall, sticks thin body. Probably with the peppy attitude too. What if she thought Gabriella was weird or something? But she tried to push that aside. It didn't matter what other people thought of her, but Gabriella really did want to get along with her. It wasn't like Gabriella to get nervous around people, but this was a little different,

She sighs as she continues to stand on the balcony and continues to look out into the ocean. It was beautiful. There were rocky grey mountains off to her right a bit, jetting out into the deep blue. She could see the beach as far as she could see on her left, with what looked like hotels on almost every part. It was defiantly a tourist spot, but it didn't take away from paradise.

A noise suddenly erupts from behind her as she turns around to see the door opening though the room. Her stomach suddenly does a back flip when she realizes that this was it. She was going to meet who she was living with for the next three months. She watches through the doors of the balcony as the door opens further and walks in someone Gabriella never would have expected. She was looking for a clone of Sharpay, and this girl was almost the complete opposite.

She was taller then Gabriella was, that was for sure. Her skin was dark and smooth. Her hair was black and with huge curls that fell about five inches past her shoulders with bangs that swept off to the side. Her arms were extremely muscular and she had really pretty curves that worked for her. If Sharpay had an opposite, it would be this girl. Gabriella watches as she throws a pair of sunglasses on her bed and seemed to be unaware that there was anything different in the room. Gabriella suddenly takes a deep breath and takes a couple steps leaving the balcony and walking into the room. This was it.

"Um… hi." Gabriella says and suddenly the girl jumps in surprise. Her almost black eyes immediately move from her bed and lock on Gabriella's deep brown. She puts her hand on her chest and takes a deep breath, but then reveals a bright white smile.

"God, you scared me." She says and stands up full ways.

"Sorry." Gabriella says and the girl smiles again and walks on the other side of the bed towards her. "Um… I guess I'm your roommate." She says awkwardly, not really sure what she should say.

The girl smiles at her, a warm and kind smile. That was good. "You must be the new girl." The dark girl says and holds out her hand. She had a small, distinct voice that was soothing. "I'm Taylor McKessie."

Gabriella smiles and takes it. "Gabriella Montez." She says. This girl seemed a lot calmer then Sharpay was.

"Where'd you move from?" She asks.

Gabriella sighs. "San Diego. My mom's company transferred her to Albuquerque." She says while looking at her bag sitting on the bed closest to the window.

"She made you move starting your senior year? That sucks." Taylor exclaims. At least someone agreed with her.

"You're telling me." Gabriella mumbles and the girl gives her another warm smile. So far, she really liked this girl, a lot. Even though they had only been in the same room together for about three minutes. But she seemed extremely calm and collected. That was good. She got the impression that she would be a person to talk to if anything ever went completely wrong, which was good because things seemed to always go wrong in Gabriella's life.

"I hope you don't mind I took this bed." Taylor says while walking back over to her suitcase that was lying open on her bed now. Gabriella gives her a smile and shakes her head.

"No, not at all." She responds, sort of happy that she got a closer view of the ocean.

"I took half the drawers and left the other half for you. There are also two bars in the closet so I took one." Taylor points to the counter by the TV that also had drawer sticking out from it. She continues to be digging for something in her suitcase. "So you've met anyone else yet?"

Gabriella smiles, happy that the girl was trying to make conversation and actually become friends with her. She knew immediately that she and this girl were going to be friends. "Yea… Sharpay Evans?" She says more of a question then an answer and Taylor giggles a little while pulling out what looked like was her swimsuit top.

"Oh yea. She and Amber were going to meet you in the lobby. Shar's one of my best friends." Taylor explains and pulls out the bottoms of her suit.

"Yea… she seemed pretty nice." Gabriella says while sitting down on her bed.

"Nice. Yea…. But insane is a better word." Taylor says with a smile and Gabriella giggles a little. "You'll get used to her though." She says and then sits down on her own bed. "She told me about your history though. You were in a company?" She asks and Gabriella nods, feeling a small blush form on her cheeks.

"Yea… I was since I was twelve." She says and Taylor's eyes grow wide.

"Holy shit. You must be incredible." She says and Gabriella shrugs.

"I'm alright." She lies, knowing that she was better then alright, but she didn't want to be cocky about it. "I guess it's something I was born to do."

Taylor smiles and nods. "Yea… I love dancing, but it's not my life or anything. It's just something I do for fun." She explains and then searches her suitcase and pulls out a towel. "My mom was really pushing for it when I started freshman year. She was in a company when she was in her twenties before she became a real estate agent and she wanted to pass down the tradition or whatever." Taylor explains. "It'd not that important to me."

Gabriella nods in understanding, but she knew that it wasn't that way for her. "I love it." She says and watches as Taylor smiles again. "So… Sharpay said we're going out to dinner as a team tonight." She says and Taylor nods.

"Yea. You can meet the rest of the team there. Our coach usually comes down for a week in the middle so she can see how we look. But other then that we're kinda on our own. There are like twenty other schools and studios that come down too. It's really fun I guess." She explains and Gabriella nods.

"Sounds like it." Gabriella responds and watches as Taylor looks up at her.

"Yea… plus, it helps that we're on the beach the whole time." She says with a smile and Gabriella nods.

"Yea… it's unbelievable." She says sincerely and Taylor smiles at her.

"I was gonna head down to the pool for a bit before we have to get ready. You wanna come?" She asks.

Gabriella feels a smile form on her face. This was turning out to be better then she thought it was going to be. Maybe this camp thing could work out. This girl seemed really nice, plus Sharpay seemed nice too. Maybe she WOULD make friends and this would work out. "Yea. Just let me get my suit!"

Gabriella grabs the smaller of her two light blue suitcases and opens it. She digs around for awhile while Taylor was still talking. "So… any siblings?"

She was happy that Taylor was trying to get to know her more. "Nope. It's just me and my mom." She replies. "My dad left when I was ten." She explains, even though there was so much more to the story then that, but she never talked about it. "What about you?"

Taylor rolls her eyes while Gabriella finds the top part of her white bikini top. "You're lucky. I have two younger brothers. But I have an older sister who's in college, so I guess it's ok." She explains and Gabriella nods. She always wanted an older sister, but she was happy it was just her and her mom too. She then pulls out the bottom part of her white suit. They both change and continue to bond, while Gabriella had a smile on her face the whole time.

Nope, this defiantly wasn't going to be as bad as she thought it would be.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks so much for reading this and giving it a chance! It means so much to me. And I know these first couple chapters are slow, but they're to introduce you to characters and places and what not. Plus, a lot of you know how I like to do things slow and build up. Anyways, both the hotels that Troy and Gabriella are staying at are in my profile. The names are mine but they're based off these hotels. Oh and I just wanted to apologize for last chapter. A couple of people caught me on my Spanish mistakes, and I'm sorry for that. I take French, so I have no idea how to speak Spanish at all. I will defintaly be in touch with some of the people who said they can speak it. So anyways, thanks so much for reading again!


	4. At First Sight

Gabriella was staring into the beautiful blue ocean while she was leaning up against the side railing that you could see through. It was 4:45 PM so the blazing hot sun was starting to sink in the Mexican horizon. She could feel the ocean breeze running over her skin, feeling amazing since it was close to eighty-five degrees out. Her eyes close as she felt at peace for this moment in her dramatic life. But her eyes open back up again to see that the dark girl was still standing next to her. She and Taylor had spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool, talking and just getting to know each other. She knew they were going to become really good friends, since they seemed to compliment each other. Which was good, because friends were what she needed right now.

"It's beautiful." Taylor exclaims as she smiles out into the ocean. They were now standing where the pool area was separated from the beach, just staring off into the ocean. Gabriella looks down and could see many thin girls walking around in the sand. She had discovered that about ten of the twenty teams were staying in the same hotel they were. But that didn't stop other tourists. She saw plenty of little kids, middle aged people, and elderly people enjoying the sun today.

"I can't believe the school would sponsor us to go to Mexico for a camp!" Gabriella exclaims and shakes her head while staring off into the sea, with the wind playing with her hair. She couldn't get her mind to wrap around this concept. Sure, her old school took them on fieldtrips every once in awhile, but this was the ultimate fieldtrip. It basically took every other school trip she had been on and made it look stupid, which it usually was anyways.

Taylor sighs and leans up against the railing. "It's one of the best out there, and is probably one of the reasons why we're so good." Taylor explains. "We do it every year. Us and the basketball team. We fund raise a lot…"

Hold up. That was something that wasn't mentioned before. The basketball team was here? Since when! Wow, this school must be rich. "Wait… the basketball team is here too? How come I haven't seen them?" Gabriella asks curiously.

"Oh… you will… don't worry." Taylor says while looking out into the ocean again. "Their hotel is next door, they have a camp here too that starts and ends on the same day. They probably do that on purpose come to think of it…" She says and Gabriella shakes her head in shock.

"You guys must take sports seriously." She says and Taylor laughs a little.

"Yea… I guess we do. Especially basketball and dance though. Football's pretty serious as well; they usually go to state too. But yea, you'll see them around." She says with a smile playing on her face that Gabriella knew meant more then just happy that they were a bunch of guys. But she didn't want to push the matter. "What time is it?" She asks and Gabriella pulls out her silver cell phone to check the clock.

"Almost five-fifteen." She responds and looks at Taylor.

"We should probably head in, since we're going to dinner at seven." She says and then Gabriella nods and they start to make their way inside.

Sharpay had called Taylor's phone while they were lying out earlier to tell them that the team was going to dinner at seven. Gabriella had to admit, she was a little nervous for this. It was one thing to have two people like her, but technically Sharpay had to like her since she was captain and she just majorly lucked out with Taylor. Now she was going to meet the whole team.

They make their way back up to their hotel room and walk inside. Gabriella takes the first shower, and then walks out of the bathroom in just a towel around her waist and a towel around her head. Taylor walks in and takes a shower while Gabriella was at the mirror doing her make up and curls her hair. She just finishes up putting on her eyeliner when Taylor walks out. "The best part about hotels, you don't have to clean up after yourself."

Gabriella giggles and turns off her curling iron and looks in the mirror to see her hair was completely down in large curls. She still just had a towel on as she walks over to where her suit case was still packed and looks up. "So what are you wearing?" She asks, having no idea how dressed up she should be.

Taylor shrugs. "Just this." She says while she holds up a fuchsia summer dress that looked like it'd flow around her body. Gabriella nods, giving her the idea that it was casual, but not jeans and a t-shirt. So she slips on a stretch knit dress with a fit-and-flare shape that was ribbed. It had a lined crochet skirt and was a racerback tank and was black with a white belt **(pic in profile)**. She also pulls out a pair of low one inch black heels to match and a black purse. "Holy shit, you look hot!" Taylor exclaims and Gabriella smiles and looks at Taylor's dress and how it cut low, revealing cleavage. She also had silver heels on and a silver necklace that hung down.

"Thanks. So do you." Gabriella compliments and looks at the clock. It was 6:50 PM. She turns back to see Taylor looking at the same thing.

"You ready to go?" Taylor asks as Gabriella takes a deep breath and nods. They make sure they have a room key to get back in and then walk out the door. "Are you nervous?"

"Nervous?" Gabriella asks as if she wasn't sure, even though she was. "No… I'm ok…" Even though she knew that was a total lie. Taylor rolls her eyes.

"Yea right." She says and Gabriella sighs.

"Ok, I'm nervous as hell." She says truthfully as both of them step into the elevator and hit the lobby button. "What whatever… I guess I gotta get over it." She exclaims and Taylor smiles.

"That's the spirit." She says sarcastically and the doors to the elevator open. Both girls walk side by side into the lobby, where Gabriella could see over thrity people standing in. Some of them were couples, others were families, anything you could think of. Taylor leads her over to where about ten girls were standing in the middle of the lobby talking happily. Gabriella could barely feel her legs as all of the girls turned to look at her, but she tries to show off the confidence she knew she had deep down.

"Hey Tay!" All the girls greet her roommate and then turn to her.

Taylor smiles at all of them and then turns to them. "Hey guys, this is Gabriella Montez. Gabriella, this is Melissa, Angie, Erica, Becca, Katie, Jessica, Crystal, and Brittany. And those are the captains, Amber Whitman and you know Sharpay."

Sharpay gives Gabriella a warm smile and waves while Gabriella returns the smile. But her eyes then cast over to the girl, Amber Whitman. She was extremely pretty, there was no denying that. Her brown hair was a deep chocolate color and reached past her elbows, which was stick straight. She was tall and slender, with legs that anyone would kill for. Her eyes were a bright green that seemed to pop out, although they were in slight slits. Her eyebrows seemed to narrow a little and she had a look on her face that seemed to be examining Gabriella for all faults. In a way, she reminded Gabriella of Megan Fox. She had a small smirk on her face as she tilted her head to the side.

She was wearing a black dress that was dangerously high on her thighs and Gabriella was pretty sure that if she bent over, you'd see a whole lot of her. The dress was spaghetti strapped and had what almost looked like a silver band that wrapped around the top. Below it though, was a square cut out, so you could see most of her cleavage. She was wearing huge black heels as well. Gabriella looks around at the other girls, to see that they weren't as dressed up as she was, but Amber didn't seem to care. Her eyes were still staring at Gabriella with her lips pursed. But then a smile breaks out onto her lips. "Welcome to the team." She says in a smooth voice.

Gabriella feels her lips form a fake smile as she looks at the girl. "Thanks." She says, trying to hide the attitude that was seeping through her voice. Ever since she was little, she had tried not to judge people by their appearance, but there was something about this girl that had Gabriella on edge. Her smile seemed sincere, but there were something about her eyes that Gabriella didn't trust.

"So… are we ready to go?" Sharpay asks, looking from Amber to Gabriella. Both girls turn to her and Amber's smooth face breaks out into another smile.

"Yep. Let's get the fuck out of here." She says and looks back at Gabriella one more time, before walking towards the door like a model.

* * *

"Get your ass up!" Troy's eyes that were staring at the TV were suddenly covered. It takes him a second to realize Chad had just thrown a shirt at his face. He removes the shirt and lies his head back down on the white soft pillow. They had gotten in from the pool almost two hours ago and Troy hadn't moved from his spot on his bed since then. His plan was to basically sleep until 5:15 AM, since their camp started at six the next morning. "We're going out."

Troy groans. "Fuck no." He says as Chad's head pops from the bathroom and looks at Troy.

"Fuck yea. The team's going to dinner and last I checked you were our captain, so you better get your ass moving." He says and Troy groans again.

"Tell them I drank the water and have twelve hour food poisoning or some shit like that." He says and Chad's head sticks out of the bathroom again.

"Dude… seriously. What are you gonna do? Sit here and watch TV all night?" He asks as Troy glances at the TV to see the Lakers make a perfect three pointer against the Pistons. His shoulders shrug as he looks back at Chad's gigantic afro.

"Why not?" He asks and Chad's almost black eyes roll.

"Dude… you're going. Now get some cologne on or something, cuz you smell like shit." He says and goes back into the bathroom. Troy rolls his eyes and stands up and stretches. It wasn't that he didn't want to hang out with the team, cuz he'd love to on any other occasion, but the first day of camp was tomorrow, and he didn't want to be overly tired, or worse, have a hangover.

But Troy follows his orders and opens one of the drawers that he shoved all of his jeans into. His head looks up again. "Where are we going?" Troy calls into the bathroom and Chad's head sticks back out again.

"Zeke said A La Parrilla." He says and Troy groans. It was a local, nice Mexican restaurant. He had been there many times before, and that meant he couldn't wear a t-shirt like he wanted.

"Couldn't we just go to Burger King or something?" He asks and Chad laughs then sticks his head back into the bathroom once again. Troy groans and then grabs a pair of dark jeans and throws them on his bed. He then opens another drawer and grabs a plain white wife beater and then a light blue button up shirt from Hollister. He quickly changes and rolls up his sleeves so they were three quarter length. He then glances in the mirror and fixes his hair a bit. He was just spraying on his Fierce cologne when Chad steps out of the shower, wearing a black long-sleeved polo and light jeans.

"You ready?" He asks as Troy nods and glances at the clock. It was 7:50 PM, so he assumes that the rest of the guys would be meeting them in the lobby at 8:00.

"I guess I have to be huh?" Troy says and Chad pats him on the back.

"You'll be glad you went. Besides, Zeke turned eighteen last week." He says with a smirk as Troy grabs his wallet and they both walk out the door, into the hallway that had a courtyard, mimicking the hotel next door.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Troy asks as he glances at his door once again, smirking as they were in room 414. Fourteen, as most people knew, was Troy's basketball number. They walk to the end of the hallway and Chad presses the down button.

"The legal drinking age in Mexico is eighteen. Which means, Zeke can buy us a fuck load of alcohol." He exclaims as they both step inside the elevator and Chad presses the lobby button. That might have been the end of Troy tonight. "Although, it's not like they check IDs anyways."

Troy shrugs and takes a deep breath. "Ok… well when you have a hang over for 6 AM workout tomorrow, don't come crying to me." Troy says with a smirk, knowing that he'd probably end up drinking his guts out too.

* * *

A round of laughter suddenly erupts from the table as Gabriella covers her mouth, careful not to spill her drink. They had arrived at the restaurant a half hour ago and were all waiting on their food. Even though it was only a half hour that went by, it seemed like the night was going smoothly. She was sitting at a large round table with Taylor on her left. On her right was a blonde with hair that reached down her back. Her eyes were blue and she had one of the best smiles Gabriella had ever seen in her life. She remembers Taylor saying her name was Melissa.

"So… Gabriella." A long-haired brunette with dark eyes and a small nose turns to her. She was pretty sure the name was Angie. "Tell us about yourself."

Gabriella feels a smile grow on her face, even though she felt all eyes on her. She was starting to fall back into her normal, confident self, and was getting rid of the nerves that had settled before. "What do you wanna know?" She asks and all of the girls look at each other. She could feel a pair of green eyes piercing into her head, but she didn't want to look. She knew Amber was staring at her; she didn't need to confirm it.

"Well for starters… is it true you were in a company?" A shoulder-length red head, Becca, asks her and Gabriella smiles confidently.

"Yea… since I was twelve." She says and all of the girls look at each other in shock, except for Taylor, who looks at Sharpay with knowing smiles, and Amber, who still had a smug look on her face. "But it's completely different then what you guys do."

"You must be good." Amber says coolly and Gabriella looks at her. She was still smirking while her fingers traced the edges of her martini glass.

Gabriella's shoulders move up and down for a shrug. "You could say that." She says and Amber tilts her head once again, examining her again.

"We'll see tomorrow won't we?" She says and takes a bite of her olive that was sitting on top of her martini. The other girls were silent as the two girls stared at each other. Green into brown. Gabriella was always good a staring contests, and usually never lost.

"So… what else?" A girl with short, spiky hair that worked for her, Erica, asks and Gabriella finally rips her eyes away from Amber's. "You must have a boyfriend."

Gabriella's face falls into a small lazy smile. She did, for awhile, but she didn't like to talk about the details on that one. "No, I left someone back in San Diego, but we had broken up right after prom." She says with a sad smile on her face. But she quickly recovers. "Whatever. I don't have time for a boyfriend anyways." She says trying to cover up for it.

Almost as if saved, she suddenly looks behind her to see that the tall, Hispanic waiter was standing behind them with twelve trays. They get their food, Gabriella getting quesadillas, and then begin eating. The team suddenly broke up with chatter with their neighbors, so Gabriella turns to see Sharpay and Taylor talking.

"Speaking of boyfriends." Sharpay says while swallowing her enchilada. "How the whole Chad thing going?"

Gabriella's eyebrows rise to this. Who was this Chad? She was curious, but didn't want to be extremely nosy since she only met Taylor a few hours ago. She could see a blush erupt on Taylor's face. "Um… there's not Chad thing." She explains and Sharpay rolls her eyes.

"Yea right. I saw you two on the plane." She says and then turns to Gabriella.

"Who's Chad?" Gabriella asks, her curiosity getting the best of her. Sharpay grins.

"The guy Taylor's in love with. He's on the basketball team, and is friends with my boyfriend, Zeke Baylor. You'll probably see him soon." She explains and Gabriella's mouth forms an "o".

"I'm not in love with him." Taylor says defensively.

"Sure honey, whatever you say." Sharpay exclaims and smiles at her.

After another half hour of eating and talking, they pay the bill and then stand up. So far, the night had gone a lot better then Gabriella would have thought it would have. The girls all seemed nice and she was happy that they seemed to include her in whatever it was they were doing. Gabriella grabs her purse that was sitting on the table and turns to leave with the rest of the girls as they made their way through the restaurant.

"Uh, I don't want to go tomorrow!" Melissa exclaims beside her and looks at her. "The first day is the most boring thing in the world." She explains and Gabriella shrugs.

"We get to dance right?" She asks and watches as Melissa nods slowly. "Well then it can't be that bad."

"Our team partners up with another." Sharpay explains. "Then the councilors call the shots. If you get a good one, then you'll dance for most of the day. If you get a shitty one, then you'll be bored until Thrusday." She says while they push open a door and walk out into the warm Mexican air. "Some of them have really hard asses, like they expect the best."

"Well then you won't have a problem… will you Gabriella?" She hears a smooth voice and turns to see Amber smiling at her. Was that a real smile? She couldn't tell. Was what she just said even a compliment? That she couldn't tell either. Their eyes stare at each other for another moment longer, before Amber pulls away and looks to see a cab pulling up. "See you in the morning." She says while she, Jessica, Katie, and Brittany all walk towards it. The other girls wave as they get in and drive off.

"Don't worry about her." Angie tells Gabriella. "She can be a huge pain in the ass sometimes, but she really knows her stuff." In the distance, three different cabs pull up and open their doors.

Gabriella shrugs. "I don't know what to think of her." She says truthfully. Suddenly, she hears a small shriek and turns to see that Sharpay was running towards something. Or that was, someone. Gabriella watches as her thin, long arms wrap around a tall, dark person. Gabriella looks around at everyone else, seeing if they thought it was weird, but instead they all had excited looks on their faces. Who was this guy? But she watches as about seven people all walk out from the three cabs and turns to see Taylor's eyes light up. "Who are…"

"It's the basketball team." Taylor says, her eyes not leaving a spot. Suddenly, it all made sense. The guy Sharpay was now kissing was probably that Zeke that she was telling Gabriella about. The eight guys who had walked out walk up to the girls and smirk. They were all cute, but there was really no one who stood out that caught Gabriella's attention. Damn it.

"Hey ladies." One of them says. He was dark and had the biggest afro Gabriella had ever seen. She does her best not to laugh at it, but suddenly looks to the side to see that Taylor was blushing. "Hey Tay."

It suddenly clicks. This must have been the Chad guy or whatever that Taylor was talking about before. "Hey Chad." She says shyly. Gabriella watches as they both give each other small smiles. Yep, there was defiantly some chemistry there, and Gabriella had only seen them together for thirty seconds.

"Where's Troy?" Crystal asks, but Gabriella doesn't hear it. She was too busy taking in her surroundings of all of the guys standing in front of them, giving the dance team hugs. Gabriella suddenly felt extremely awkward she didn't know any of them.

"In the car, looking for his wallet." Chad says but it didn't comprehend what he just said. Chad's almost black eyes suddenly lock on Gabriella's and he smiles a little. "Who's this?"

Taylor smiles. "This is Gabriella Montez. The one from San Diago." She says. "Gabriella, this is Chad Danforth."

Chad's mouth forms a smile. "Hey."

"Hey." Gabriella says back with a confident smile. Taylor then turns to Sharpay who was still kissing the tall dark boy.

"And that's Zeke Baylor." She says and then turns to a guy with black hair and light brown eyes standing next to Chad. "And that's Jason Cross." The two guys smile at her as the other girls suddenly interrupt before Taylor could introduce her to the other guys.

"Tay! Shar! Gabriella! Come on we gotta go." Melissa yells while standing by a cab. Taylor smiles sadly, disappointed and Gabriella tries her best not to giggle.

"Yea. We gotta go too." Chad says and Gabriella watches as most of the guys walk into the restaurant. Sharpay, Taylor, and Gabriella were the only ones at the moment who were still talking with Zeke, Chad, and Jason. "See ya later?" He says and Taylor nods eagerly. Chad then turns around and looks over his shoulder. "BOLTON! HURRY YOUR ASS UP!"

"FOUND IT!" She hears someone yell in the distance and then turns back to Taylor.

"Bye guys. And tell him 'hi' for us." Sharpay says and kisses Zeke one more time. Tell who hi? Nothing was making sense. The three girls start walking to the cab, until Gabriella feels her black shoe slip. She stumbles for a second, then the shoe falls off.

"Shit." She mutters as she watches Taylor and Sharpay hop into the cab. She bends over and puts the heel back on and suddenly stands up and rams shoulders with someone, sending pain through it. She stumbles back for a moment, but then stops dead in her tracks Her eyes look up and suddenly her breath was caught in her throat.

"Watch…" His perfect lips moved but then stop. She suddenly felt herself face to face with the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. The guy's chestnut hair fell perfectly over his perfectly sculpted eyebrows. His nose was small and was the most incredible shape. His mouth slightly hung open in awe, revealing his bright white teeth. But that wasn't what Gabriella was staring at. Her deep, dark chocolate eyes suddenly met a pair of piercing blue orbs that were as beautiful as the Pacific Ocean itself. And he was staring back at her. It was almost as if time stopped as both of them couldn't move. The noises around them came to a halt as neither one could take their eyes off the other. Both of them were mesmerized by the image they were taking in, both not even able to say words to the form in front of them.

"BOLTON! LET'S GO!" Something was ringing in the distance.

"Come on!" She hears Sharpay's voice yell. The world started turning again and she suddenly takes a step backwards. Her eyes rip away from his as she turns around and shuffles to the cab. But her head kept seeing those beautiful ocean eyes. Once inside the cab, she turns around one more time and looks out the window to see the gorgeous guy was still standing in his place, watching as the cab began to drive off.


	5. In Control

If there was one thing Troy hated more then anything else… it was mornings.

BEEP… BEEP…. BEEP…

Troy groans and turns over to put his head under his pillow. His head was suddenly spinning. Why the hell did people even make mornings? They were useless, really. No one liked them. He sighs as the alarm keeps beeping and then suddenly stops with a thud. Troy peaks his head from under the white pillow to see Chad's hand drop from the night stand in the center of the two beds. "We gotta get up." His muffled voice echoes in Troy's ears as Troy quickly glances at the clock to see it was 5:15 AM. For someone who loved basketball more then anything else, he suddenly hated it.

"Don't make me." Troy groans and then looks over to see that Chad was standing up in just a pair or basketball shorts stretching. He closes his eyes again, trying to pretend this was just a dream and he'd be back to sleep in no time.

"Too late Captain." He says and Troy suddenly feels a pillow hit his back. He turns his body over so he was staring up at Chad's figure, whose afro was sticking up in all places. "What the hell are we doing for breakfast?"

Troy groans again and sits up, letting the white sheets fall down and revealing his bare chest. "How the fuck am I supposed to know?"

Chad rolls his eyes. "Um… you're the fucking captain."

Troy rubs his eyes tiredly and shrugs. Yesterday the team had gone for breakfast at one of the three restaurants that were in the hotel. "Um… just grab something on the way to the gym."

Chad nods as he walks into the bathroom and Troy could suddenly feel the memories of last night flood back into him. The four beers he had, which was light compared with what some of the other guys drank. The incredible taco he had. The gorgeous brown-eyed girl…

Troy's body freezes. The girl. That incredible girl. She had been on his mind all night last night, even after she left in that cab. She was gorgeous, had to be the hottest girl Troy had ever seen in his life, even though they only looked at each other for about twenty seconds. Yea, Troy had seen hot girls before, but God! There was something about the way her long hair almost black hair curled slightly, the way her face was smooth as silk, or the way he couldn't get those dark chocolate brown eyes out of his mind.

Troy finally feels the muscles in his body move and function again as he finally gets out of bed and stretches. She had to be a local. Her skin was the perfect color and her hair was dark. She had to live around here somewhere… but where? Troy was pretty certain that "hot girl" wouldn't be in the phonebook anywhere. His legs carry him over to his dresser again as he pulls out a pair of black basketball shorts and a red "Wildcats Basketball" t-shirt.

It was weird. Troy had never been that entranced on just seeing someone after twenty seconds. But this girl. Wow. There was something about the way she stared back at him that made him want to meet her again. But that would probably never happen, since he had no idea where she even lived!

"Dude… your turn." Chad says while walking out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and his hair was starting to form the familiar afro on his head. Troy sighs and walks in the shower, stripping off his clothes in the process.

After finishing up his shower and grabbing all of his stuff, Troy walks with Chad down to the first story to see that the rest of the team was sitting in the lobby waiting for them. All of them looked just like Troy, like they were going to kill someone for making them wake up this morning. They head out of the hotel in silence and Troy looks up at the sky. The sun had just come up and it was already starting to make Troy hotter then hell. They all catch a cab and make their way to the familiar gym that was about two miles away.

* * *

Gabriella was in heaven.

She could feel the hardwood floor beneath her as she looks a couple steps forward. There were mirrors lined up everywhere, showing her a reflection of herself walking forward in her black sports bra with a light blue tank top over it. She was wearing black ballet shoes with high black dance socks also and her hair was pulled up into a high pony tail. She could almost feel the energy coursing through her veins, just standing in this studio, especially after that hour long opening orientation that they had to go through to try and fire all of them up for this camp. Now, they and other team who had extremely heavy southern accents were in one of the eight dance studios that were in the building.

The studio was connected to a gym, where she had seen a bunch of the basketball guys around earlier for their own camp. She saw no one from East High though, unfortunately; since they had started their camp a half hour after the guys started theirs. Gabriella was used to getting up early though, and didn't really mind it much. Mornings were the most peaceful to her, although Taylor had complained the whole way. It probably didn't help that Taylor had decided to stay up later then Gabriella did, who had decided to go to bed at ten last night.

A small smile curls onto her lips as the thoughts about the gorgeous blue-eyed boy enter her brain. She knew he had to belong to the East High basketball team, since he had come out of the same cab that Chad, Zeke, and Jason had come from. But would she ever see him again?

"Brie… come on!" A voice suddenly fills her ears and she turns her head around to see that Taylor was beckoning her over to where a lot of the girls were sitting down. She could see Amber, standing with her hip popped out and a hand on her hip as she was looking at the mirror intently in her what looked like expensive black dance skirt and black long sports bra with black ballet shoes on and her hair was pulled up to the top of her head.

Gabriella walks over and sits down next to Taylor in a chair that was lined up with the others as a door suddenly opens and in walks in a girl who looked to be less seven years older than Gabriella. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she was wearing tight dance clothes. Her face was slightly hard with beady black eyes with the skin a little darker then Gabriella's, but she could tell she was Hispanic. She had bright red lipstick on that could light up the room. The room suddenly goes silent as she looks from face to face and kinks her eyebrows. Gabriella could almost feel chills run down her back as her eyes land on her deep brown ones. Who the hell was this girl?

"My name is Camilla Gestona. I'm your councilor." As her voice came out, it came with a hard Spanish accent. Taylor turns her head to the side with her eyes wide, as if saying 'You've got to be kidding me'. But Gabriella just turns her head back to Camilla and tries to pay attention, forcing herself to shove the bright blue eyes that she couldn't stop thinking about out of her head. "You must be Albuquerque East High School and Central Augusta High School." Gabriella turns to the girls on the other half of the room, assuming they were from Augusta, Georgia. "Welcome to this camp. Why doesn't everyone introduce themselves to everyone else?" She says while glancing at a clipboard in her hand and rolling her eyes. Gabriella figures she wasn't the one who wanted to do introductions. "Start with you." She points to a person from the other school.

The redhead timidly stands up and looks around. This was ridiculous. Gabriella wanted to dance! Not have stupid introductions. She would find out the other girls names later. Right now, she was having a dance craving that didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon. "My name is Suzy and I've been dancing since I was seven." She says in a heavy southern accent, and then sits down.

They go around the room stating names and how long they've been dancing for while Camilla had a bored look on her face. Gabriella could feel her legs shaking as her dancing withdrawal was starting to kick in. She had to get moving otherwise she was sure she was going to explode. Her mind starts to think of different things, such as the gorgeous guy. What was his name anyways? She wished he would have come out earlier or something. But suddenly, a familiar brunette stands up and gives off her smirk that could be seen through a crowded room. "I'm Amber Whitman." She exclaims innocently. "And I've been dancing since I was five."

With that, she sits down with just air and grace as one leg of hers crosses the other. Gabriella sighs and looks straight ahead again, wishing desperately they could just start dancing already. But then she suddenly feels a nudge of her elbow and she looks to the side to see that Taylor had just gotten her attention because Camilla was staring down at her. She stands up awkwardly, wanting to be anywhere but there at that moment. "I'm Gabriella Montez."

She stops. There was nothing else she wanted to say. Camilla raises her high, overly plucked eyebrows. She tilts her head to the side, as if examining her since she was the first one who didn't look happy to be there. Instead she must have looked bored, since that's how she felt. She just wanted to dance damn it! "So…" Camilla starts in a hard voice. "How long have you been dancing for?" The councilor asks and everyone's eyes look up at her. Gabriella looks around and shrugs.

"Since I could walk." She says honestly and with more attitude then intended and sits back down in the chair trying to make herself unnoticed. She feels her eyes glance over to see that Amber was looking at her strangely, probably surprised that she gave off attitude so early on.

But Camilla was looking at her in a different way. Gabriella wasn't sure if it was good or bad yet. But the councilor takes her eyes off her and looks at the entire group again. "Ok then, everyone get up and push the chairs to the side. Let's see what you got."

As told, Gabriella immediately jumps up and folds the chair up to put it against the wall. The other girls follow in her lead as they crowd around the short intimidating Hispanic woman. "Finally." Gabriella mumbles as Taylor laughs a little.

"I am not going to be your friend." Camilla says in a hard voice. "Most of you are probably going to hate me within the first two days. But others of you…" Her eyes lock on Gabriella's for a moment, giving her the creeps. "Who seem to have… a gift, and understand what it takes to be the best, won't feel the same." She says and walks out more towards the middle of the studio. "The most important thing you need to learn, is dancing is more then just an art. It's soul. It's heart. It takes more then talent to be the best." She explains and Gabriella feels her heart lift a little. "I want to see what shit you can give me." She says plainly and then turns to the mirror. "Form into four lines and copy this."

Gabriella watches as the woman suddenly moves her body with grace. She was recording in her head what Camilla was doing with her body. The bends, the shapes, and the grace she was using. It was incredible to Gabriella. She had never seen anyone move that way, not even her old dance coach. The passion she was exerting with every fold, every leap. Finally, Camilla ends up on the other side of the studio and turns back to them. "Holy shit." Taylor mumbles beside her and Gabriella's mouth was almost dropped open as well.

"First group, ready, go!" The woman explains as four girls, two including Angie and Melissa, leap out onto the stage and attempt to perform what Camilla just did. They weren't bad, they weren't bad at all, but Gabriella could point out mistakes without even trying. "Go!" She yells again as another line dances out.

"She's like a fucking army sergeant." Sharpay exclaims as another group goes out. Gabriella finally notices she's at the back of the line, and would be going with Katie, Erica, and one of the girls from Georgia. She watches as the lines start to come closer to hers, and finally Taylor's goes, including Taylor, Sharpay, and Amber.

Gabriella takes the image in. It was obvious Taylor was the weakest one, messing up on a Pas de bourrée and a leap. Then there was Sharpay, who was strong on her turns and spins, but lacked on the footwork. But then Gabriella's eyes travel to Amber, who had a threatening amount of grace. It wasn't perfect, and it was stiff, but that didn't matter. Gabriella immediately knew she was already the best on the team. What she didn't know though, was that in three seconds, the best would suddenly be replaced. She suddenly closes her eyes, just in time to see those mysterious blue eyes again before her thoughts were interrupted. "Go!"

Gabriella suddenly could feel her legs move without her telling them to. It was like her own music was playing inside her head as her feet floated across the hardwood. "Leap, ball change, Pas de bourrée, step, leap." Her mind was replaying as her feet obeyed, almost perfectly copying what Camilla had just shown. She does another spin, throwing her arms back and leaning up with emotion as she finishes and turns to the group, who all had their eyes wide staring at her with envy.

"Oh my God." Sharpay finally says as Gabriella makes her way to the back. "Why the fuck didn't you tell us?"

Gabriella's eyebrows rise. "Um… didn't tell you what?"

Sharpay shakes her head while Taylor was staring at her like she had just seen a ghost. "That you're the best fucking dancer I've ever seen in my life."

Gabriella feels a blush erupt on her face as her head turns slightly, meeting a pair of piercing green eyes that seemed to cut through her body. She turns away from Amber's stare but then looks back to see that she had her famous smirk on her face. The captain walks over to where the three girls were standing and looks Gabriella up and down for a moment. "Nice dancing. I guess the papers didn't lie." She says in her smooth voice and then turns to walk away.

* * *

"GO!"

Troy could feel sweat dripping down his face as his red and white shoes squeaked on the court as he sprinted towards the ball. His hands grab the sphere and he suddenly pushes it down with one hand, letting it connect with the ground. He dribbles across the court and chest passes it to Jason, who was waiting on the other end and then runs to the back of the line.

His piercing blue eyes glance at the clock as his legs start to shake. 4:33 PM. The camp should have ended three minutes ago. His legs felt like rubber and his body was shaking from the work that was put onto it. They had just had one of the most intense workouts Troy had ever had in his life, and it was only the first day of this camp. He stands up fully and places his hands behind his head, desperately trying to fill his lungs with the air that was lacking. His eyes scan over to see the mixed group that was there. This place had about three different basketball courts, four weight rooms, an outside track, three outside soccer fields, a lap pool, and eight dance studios that he knew the girls were in. Needless to say, there were multiple levels to this place.

The camp had split them up into eight different teams. They were completely mixed up, so he was with Jason and two other juniors from his team. The other sixteen guys were from completely different schools and states. Chad was with Zeke, and each of the teams had one coach. They would rotate between each station each day. One day you'd be in the gym, then another gym, then a weight room, then the track, then the pool, and so on. The only things they didn't use were the dance studios, since they could run on the soccer fields and swim in the pool.

"Come on, pick up the pace!" Screams a twenty-five year old guy with spiky black hair and black eyes to match it. His features were hard, with a mouth that always seemed to be in a scowl. His skin was tan, proving he was a local and he had an extremely heavy Spanish accent. He was known as Perez, since that was his last name. He was a new coach at this camp, but Troy could tell he wasn't messing around. He was supposed to be the hardest one there, but Troy also knew he was the best. The only problem? He seemed to hate Troy... which was extremely uncommon. Every basketball coach loved Troy. But this guy? Not so much.

"Are you fucking serious?" A guy asks in front of Troy who just looks up at the clock again.

Troy then walks up to the baseline again and watches as one of the guys passes the ball. It connects with Troy's fingertips and he starts to dribble, but suddenly a piercing shill enters his ears.

"Alright… that's enough." Perez says harshly and Troy looks around to see other guys from the camp were starting to fill back into this gym to grab their stuff that was in the locker room connected. His eyes seem to glare at Troy for a moment, before turning to the rest of them. "Get rest, we're on the track tomorrow."

Troy could hear groans erupt from some people, but not him. He was a track runner himself in the spring, so he knew it wouldn't be as tough for him. He continues to look down at the ball in his hands, suddenly realizing he didn't want to go back to the hotel. All day he had been thinking about that girl, and he just wanted some time to himself. Without the other guys, including Chad. "Dude, you ready?"

Troy turns around to see that Jason was looking at him. The crowd was filling in more as he suddenly spots the familiar black afro walking in. "Nah… I'm gonna stay and shoot for awhile. I'll catch a cab." He says as he watches Zeke and Chad approach them.

"That was the hardest fucking workout I've ever had in my life!" Chad exclaims as he wipes the sweat off his forehead. "Who know you could get so fucking tired on a soccer field, and you're not even playing!" Troy rolls his eyes and plays with the ball in his hands. "Let's bounce."

"I'll see ya back at the hotel. I'm gonna stay and shoot." Troy says and Chad and Zeke's eyebrows raise and their jaws drop.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Didn't you get enough of this sport today?" Chad asks and Troy shakes his head.

"You gotta practice if you wanna be the best." He says with a cocky smirk with makes the guys roll their eyes.

"Whatever. We'll see ya at the hotel man." Zeke says while they do their guy handshake and then turn around to walk away. Troy sighs and looks around to see that the coaches had gone to a different part of the sport's complex and the guys had all filed into the locker room. He was now alone, for the first time since they had gotten to Mexico. He takes a shot, watching as it sinks in, smirking while thinking about those drowning deep brown eyes.

* * *

"You can't stay here by yourself!" Taylor exclaims and throws her arms up in the air while Gabriella continues to stretch on the hardwood floor and stare at herself in the mirror.

"Yes I can." She responds while standing up and sinking down into a splits. She glances up at the clock to see that it was 5:10 PM. The other girls were filing out as the camp ended at 5. She sees the tall blonde walking towards her in the mirror and turns to look at her.

"What's going on?" Sharpay asks as Taylor looks down at Gabriella.

"Brie wants to stay…" Taylor says and Sharpay rolls her eyes.

"You just spent like…ten hours dancing. You wanna keep going?" She asks as Gabriella stands up and shrugs.

"It's what I do." She says.

"Obsessed much?" Sharpay asks and Gabriella shrugs. "Well, whatever. We're heading back and we'll meet you there. Come on Tay." She says and grabs Taylor's arm, dragging her out of the room. Gabriella rolls her eyes as the two leave the room and it was suddenly silent. She was finally alone.

She takes a deep breath and sighs. It wasn't that she didn't like the girls, because she really did, but as for right now, she just wanted to dance like no one was watching, probably because no one WAS watching. They had danced for most of the morning, then were given an hour break for lunch, and then ran three miles right after, which probably wasn't a smart idea, since they had just eaten but then they danced again. It was hectic, but nothing that Gabriella couldn't handle.

Her legs carry her over to where her bag was. She digs around in her bag and finally finds the CD she was looking for. But as she pulls out the CD, she also pulls out a picture that was jammed in there as well. It lifts up and floats down onto the hardwood. Gabriella bends down and picks it up, feeling a hit of pain as she looks down at her own reflection with another guy her age with blonde, shaggy hair and gray eyes. He had his arm wrapped around her and both of them were smiling brightly at the camera. Gabriella sighs as she puts the picture back into her gym bag, desperately trying to hide it so she didn't have to think about it.

She walks over to the CD player and puts the CD inside. She then goes out to the middle of the studio and suddenly hears blasting music that echoes throughout the studio and she was pretty sure you could hear it through the hallway as well. It didn't matter to her, the councilors weren't there anyways. She was pretty sure she was alone in the building.

Her legs start moving to the beat. Step, knee, step, fan… Her body moves to the calls that her brain was shouting out. But she was doing it with so much more passion then before. One song, two, three… songs go by and she doesn't even notice it was already rounding on 5:45 PM. The only thing that was running through her head was past routines, moves that she could do in this time.

What she also didn't notice was that a seventeen year old boy was walking down the hallway when he suddenly heard the echo of music playing. What? That couldn't be right, the dance camp ended a little less then an hour ago. Why was there someone still here? His bright piercing blue eyes look from right to left in the off white hallway before walking towards where his ears were leading him. He stops in the doorway and suddenly feels his jaw drop.

She didn't notice as the blue-eyed boy stops as stares at her perfectly formed body move. She didn't notice as his head clicked while seeing her perfectly tan Hispanic skin and her almost black hair falling out of her high ponytail. She didn't notice as his own piercing blue eyes saw the color of her own deep brown eyes in the mirror as she leapt and his heart flipped. She had no idea that Troy Bolton had just seen the girl who had been on his mind for the past twenty hours dancing and leaping like no one had ever seen before.

Step, knee, step, fan, step, turn, ball change, contract, leap, turn, fan, fall, roll… Her body moves back up, arching her back and rolling her hips when she suddenly hears a faint noise of boards creaking. Her body suddenly stops moving. Someone else was in here. It was probably one of the councilors, coming to kick her out. They had to have been pissed. She never asked if she could stay. Panic mode sets in as she suddenly runs over to where the music was and turns it on pause. "I'm sorry… I know I should be in here but…"

Her body turns around and she stops dead in her tracks. Her eyes grow wide as she sees the figure standing in the corner of the studio. No. There was no fucking way. This had to be a dream. She had to be hallucinating. Standing with his arms crossed was the mysterious chestnut brown hair, piercing blue-eyed boy that she had seen last night. A small smirk forms on his lips as she continues to stare at him like she was seeing a ghost. "Is that how you always greet people?" He asks in a smooth, calm voice that matched his body perfectly. It was like angels were singing as he spoke. She couldn't feel her tongue. Her mouth was as dry as the Sahara desert and she probably looked like an idiot. "Do you speak English?" The guy asks and Gabriella suddenly shakes her head, realizing how stupid she probably looked.

"What are you…" She starts, even though she knew he was on the East High basketball team and was here for the camp. But that was the only thing she knew about him. "Who are…" She starts again but then stops also.

The guy chuckles a little as he walks in. "I'm going to this basketball camp here. I'm from New Mexico, in the States you know? But a better question is… what are you doing here? This is a pretty touristy spot."

Gabriella continues to stare at him like she had never seen a guy before. What was he talking about? She knew this was a touristy spot, which was why she was a tourist. "What?" She asks.

The guy shrugs. "I just didn't think a local would come work out at a gym here."

It suddenly clicked to Gabriella. The guy thought she was a local. She suddenly lets out a nervous laugh, finding it kind of funny he thought they lived on the other side of the border, when in reality; they were going to go to the same high school. "I'm not a local." She says the first sentence since she first saw him. "I'm going to the dance camp here." She says and his mouth forms the shape of an "o".

"Oh, sorry I just though… you know…" He says nervously for a second, but then regains composer. Gabriella couldn't help but notice the air he had around him. There was a certain level of cockiness that was showing through, yet something else as well. "So where you from?"

Gabriella figures it would be sort of stalkerish if she told him she went to his school. So she shrugs and plays dumb. "Just moved to Albuquerque. I'm going to Albuquerque East High School." Gabriella tries not to giggle as the guy's jaw drops about ten feet. He obviously was shocked that she went to the same school that he did.

"No shit." Was the only thing that came out of his mouth. She tries not to let the giggles that were in her throat come out as he continues to stare at her.

"What?" She asks, playing dumb again and he shakes his head and widens his eyes.

"I go there." He says and Gabriella tilts her head to the side.

"Really?" She asks as he suddenly clears his throat and shakes his head again. A cockiness erupts on him again. It must have clicked to him that she was a new student there.

"So… you must be the sick ass dancer that's coming to East High. You're supposed to be the best." He says while eying her up. He walks towards her a little and begins to circle her, as if examining her for faults. It reminded her in a way of what Amber did last night, but in a different atmosphere. Amber seemed to do it in intimidation, and this guy seemed to be more seeing what she was really like.

Gabriella raises her eyebrow. "I wouldn't say that."

The guy smirks. "Everyone's been talking about you." He exclaims. Wait, everyone was talking about her? Since when? And who was everyone? But she tries to not let the confusion take over her face as she looks back at him.

"Yea?" She asks and smiles slightly. "And who are you?" She asks, finally trying to figure out the question that had been on her mind ever since last night.

He laughs cockily. "You don't know who I am?" She shakes her head and he smirks. "Troy… Troy Bolton." He says. "I'm captain of the basketball team, and we're basically the best in the State. So you could say I'm… ." He says cockily, tailing off and Gabriella tries not to roll her eyes. The guy was hot; she had to give him that. But the cockiness? It needed to be toned down, a lot.

Gabriella nods and picks up her bag. "Ok, well the cockiness level is too much for me… I guess I'll see you around Troy." She says and starts walking away. She had to keep him on his feet right?

"Wait! You never told me your name!" Troy calls and Gabriella turns around and smirks back at him. He was standing there, waiting for her to say something. But she just smiles and leaves the room without another word. That was how you maintained control.


	6. Loving the Name

Why the hell did he not catch her name?

Troy walks out of the shower and grabs a white towel that was sitting on his floor. Why was he so stupid? She was right there, and he should have just asked her first thing. But how would he have known that she'd just walk out like that? No other girls did that to him. Usually, they would be more then happy that Troy Bolton was actually talking to them. But this girl? Yea, she was different. Way different. And that was probably the reason Troy wanted to know her so bad.

He sighs as he wraps the white towel around his waist and walks out of the bathroom. With a glance over, he finds Chad sitting in a pair of khaki shorts and a green t-shirt on that read, "I majored in vacation" flipping through the channels on the TV. He glances to the side to see Troy was going through his drawers to find something to wear. "A shower's never felt so fucking good in my life." Troy exclaims as he pulls out a pair of his light blue jeans and a blue t-shirt.

Chad laughs "I know what you mean man." He says as he turns off the TV and then stands up and stretches. Suddenly, Troy hears a phone go off with a ring tone that didn't belong to his own. Chad reaches for his phone that was sitting on his bed and a smirk forms on his face. "Hey Tay."

Troy rolls his eyes and tries not to laugh as a blush forms on his best friend's face. He really wanted the two to just hook up already. They had been like this for so long, and it was really time that they should just get together. "Tell her I said hey." Troy says but watches as Chad waves his hand telling him to shut up.

"You want me too... yea that'd be great..." Troy listens to the one sided conversation and jumps on his own bed. "Alright, see ya in like ten." He says and hangs up the phone. Troy smirks as his best friend mouths the word, "yes".

"Did she ask you to go fuck somewhere?" Troy asks as he leans his head back onto his pillow and Chad rolls his eyes.

"Nah man. She invited me over." He says and Troy nods. "I'm going to check out their pad over there. You wanna come?" He asks and Troy shakes his head.

"No... I'll just stay here and catch up on ESPN." He says while looking for the black remote. "And I'll let you have your fucking time."

Chad rolls his eyes. "There will be no fucking time even if I wanted it. Her roommate's gonna be in there."

Troy's eyes suddenly spring up in attention. That's right! The new girl was rooming with Taylor. He completely forgot about that one little detail. A smirk forms on his face as he stands up from his bed, feeling his calves tighten, since they were so sore from the camp. "I changed my mind. I'm coming."

Chad raises and eyebrow curiously. "I thought you wanted to catch up on ESPN?" He says, questioning his best friend's mysterious behavior.

Troy shrugs, trying to play it cool and not make it seem like he wanted to go for an apparent reason. "Whatever, I'll catch the highlights later. Besides, I want to see your future girlfriend, since I haven't seen her since the plane."

Chad continues to look at Troy curiously. Troy tries to put on a face that didn't have anything to hide as he walks towards the door. "Whatever man." Chad says, shaking his head, knowing that Troy had to be up to something else. But Troy just shrugs his shoulders and walks out the door, leading Chad outside.

They go though the hotel and walk out into the sunset. A small smile forms on Troy's face. This was his favorite spot in the world, but he wasn't going to admit that to anyone else. It was incredible, and all year he waited until this trip. It was better then any basketball game, any party, even his first junior prom the past year, where he won Prom King anyways. They walk across the sand and finally reach the deck of the pool right next door. There were a few people still out, two kids in the pool and what looked like their parents.

They walk through the back doors and suddenly enter the huge lobby. His eyes scan the place when he suddenly sees two familiar girls striding across with their long legs. They seemed to be having a very intense conversation about something and the tall blonde had an angry look on her face while the familiar brunette had a calm smirk on her face. "I don't think it's fair that you just take a it..." Troy hears the blonde exclaim as they walk closer to the two girls.

"I've been captain of this team for two years now, I think I should be the one to have it." The brunette says and suddenly turns her head. Troy's piercing blue eyes lock with the piercing green. Sharpay suddenly stops and turns with a smile growing on her face.

"Hey boys." Amber says in her familiar smooth voice. Troy feels a small smile grow on his own face while Chad beams at both of them.

"Hey Amber. What's up Shar?" Chad asks as they close the gap between the four of them.

Troy watches as the brunette in front of him. She was wearing a black, extremely revealing swimsuit and a low pink tank top that revealed her pierced bellybutton. She was also wearing short jeans shorts. Troy couldn't help it, his guy instincts couldn't help it. Amber was hot. Every guy at East High knew it. She was extremely rich since he knew that her father owned the Phoenix Suns. He had had a thing with her sophomore year, but it ended after about a month. She was also known in the locker room a good lay. "Hey Troy... Hey Chad." Amber says in her smooth and seductive voice.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sharpay asks and Troy smirks.

"Chad's going through Non-Taylor withdrawals... so we're here to see her." He exclaims and Sharpay laughs, while Amber lets a lazy smile form on her face, but she looks like she was interested in other things at the moment.

"Well... I'm pretty sure Tay's going through withdrawals too." Sharpay says and Troy laughs. Troy loved Sharpay like a sister. They had gone to the same elementary school together along with Chad. Sure, she could be extremely obnoxious sometimes, but hey... you needed some fun in your life once in awhile. "So you'd better get up there..." She says and Troy nods.

"Yea... See ya Shar." Troy calls and then looks down at Amber, who was giving him an innocent smile. "Bye Amber."

"Bye Troy. Bye Chad." She says and turns around, pulling what looked like a cellphone from her pocket.

"God... I could strangle her sometimes." Sharpay hisses and Troy rolls his eyes. Everyone knew that Sharpay and Amber never got along. It was just a known fact. But Sharpay sighs and flips her hair. "I'm gonna go give Zeke a call." She says and walks away as well.

"Come on, let's go." Chad says impatiently and Troy follows as they walk towards the stairs. "Tay said they're on two." Troy follows him as they walk slowly up the stairs, his muscles working against him right now. God they hurt so bad. Why hadn't they just taken the elevator? But they finally get to the top of the steps and turn to walk down the hallway. Chad finally stops in front of door 228 and turns. He knocks twice then turns to Troy.

"How's the hair?" Chad asks like a girl would, but Troy knew he was just nervous.

"It looks like shit, just like it always does." He jokes, but suddenly feels his own stomach start to knot up.

The door suddenly opens and out steps a beaming dark girl. "Chad!" Taylor exclaims and throws her arms around Chad's neck. Troy suddenly feels extremely awkward as they hang onto each other like their lives depended on it. He scratches the back of his neck and tries to look anywhere but at them. They finally let go and Taylor turns to Troy with a smile on her face. "Troy! You came too!"

He could suddenly feel Taylor's arms around his neck in a friendly hug. Troy hugs her back and then lets go over her quickly, with a lot less shorter hug that Chad had. She smiles back at both of them and opens the door further to them. "Come on in!"

Chad walks in immediately but Troy suddenly feels his breath catch in his throat. What if she thought he was a stalker or something? But then again, he could just use the excuse that he came with his best friend. Yea, that would be ok...right? Troy finally takes a couple steps forward into the room and Taylor shuts the door behind him. He walks into the room to see that a brunette was sitting on one of the beds, looking down at a magazine. Her hair was slightly wet and was hanging in her face, telling Troy that she probably just came out of the shower. Taylor finally walks towards the gorgeous figure as she doesn't make any movement. "Chad..." Taylor says as the girl's gorgeous head looks up at Troy swears he was looking into heaven itself. She doesn't seem to notice he was in the room but looks up at his best friend instead. "You remember..."

"Gabriella right?" Chad finishes and Troy suddenly feels his heart skip a beat. Gabriella. That just rolled off the tongue perfectly. Gabriella. He just wanted to keep saying her name. Gabriella. It was his new favorite name.

"Yea." The girl says in her perfect voice and Troy was pretty sure he heard angels sing. "I recognized the hair." She says in a joking matter and Chad laughs.

"Most people do." Chad says and then Taylor turns to him.

"And I don't think you guys have met." Taylor says and Gabriella's deep brown eyes suddenly lock on the piercing blue. They become wide as she stares at him in shock, just like they had when he discovered her at the studio. "Brie, this is Troy Bolton... Troy this is..."

"Gabriella?" Troy asks with a cocky smirk on that he successfully discovered what her name was. "I like it..." He says out loud and Chad and Taylor give them a really confused look.

Gabriella suddenly smirks at him. "I never asked if you liked it."

Troy smirks back at her. "Well, it doesn't matter. It's about damn time I learned it."

Chad suddenly looks between the two like a tennis match was happening. "Do you two know each other or something?"

Troy suddenly finds himself laughing, and he could hear Gabriella's sweet laugh coming from her perfect lips as well. He could get used to that laugh, even though this was the third time of seeing her. "I saw Troy in the studio." Gabriella explains and places a long, wet, curly strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh." Taylor responds, but still had a confused look on her face. Troy couldn't help but not take his eyes off the girl who was now standing up. He took her body in fully. The way her short black athletic shorts lay on her perfectly curved hips. The way her flat stomach showed through her turquoise tank top and he swears he could see ab lines. The way he could see her bellybutton ring outline show through her top. His eyes look at her chest, which seemed to be the perfect size for Troy. Not huge, but also not small. But he suddenly sees a hand wave in front of his face and he quickly blinks and looks at the owner who was standing next to him.

"Dude, what do you think?" Chad asks and Troy shakes his head to bring himself out of his daydream again.

Troy nervously scratches the back of his head. "Err... sorry... What'd you say?" Troy says, hoping that no one noticed Troy was too busy checking Gabriella out to notice anyone else. God... he loved her name!

"Dinner. At the hotel... now?" Chad asks and Troy finally nods.

"Oh... right. Yea sounds good." He says and Gabriella walks towards her drawers, Troy staring at her in the process.

"Just let me change." She says and pulls clothes out. Troy secretly prays that she'd get changed in here, but she walks towards the bathroom. "I'll be right out."

The door shuts and Chad turns to Taylor. "She seems nice." He says and Taylor nods with a smile on her face.

"She is. And totally down to earth too." She replies and Troy feels himself smile. "What?"

He shrugs. "Nothing." He says and sits down on the bed that Gabriella was just occupying. He had a lazy smile on his face that he couldn't seem to get off. Gabriella. He loved it. He just wanted to keep saying it over and over again. "What's her last name?"

"Montez." Taylor responds and Troy feels his smile continue to stay on his face. Gabriella Montez, it seemed to roll off the tongue just perfectly. "What's that look?" She asks and Troy snaps out of his daydream once again.

"What look?" Troy asks and Taylor rolls her eyes.

"That look." She points to his face where he still had his grin pasted on. Chad looks down at him and smirks.

"You think she's hot." Chad exclaims. Troy suddenly feels a small blush erupt on his cheeks and he shrugs. Why deny it?

"Yea... whatever." He says Taylor rolls her eyes.

"Don't get any ideas. Brie's not like that alright?" She says and shakes her head. "She's not going to worship you like everyone else does."

Troy shrugs again. Maybe that's what he wanted. Maybe he was just really sick of girls drooling over him just because he was 'Troy Bolton'. Maybe for once he wanted a girl who would like him for being Troy, and not for being the perfect basketball god. But was he going to admit that to anyone? Of course not. He had a reputation to maintain. "Whatever. Who said I was interested anyways?"

With that, the bathroom door suddenly opens and Troy looks up. He tries not to let his jaw drop. She looked stunning, even though she wasn't dressed up at all. She was wearing a pink tube top that was long and fell over her light ripped jeans. She had white flip flops to match and her hair was pulled into a half ponytail, letting the strands curl tighter then when he saw her at the studio. She turns to them and flashes a small smile. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yea let's go." Taylor says and the two girls link arms and begin to walk out of the room, with the guys following. A smirk forms on Troy's face as he watches Gabriella hips sway perfectly. Gabriella Montez. He loved her name.

* * *

"Gracias." Gabriella says as one of the waiters sets down a plate of two chicken burritos in front of her. She was starving. Even though they gave the girls a huge lunch, dancing all afternoon and going for a run made her work off everything that she had eaten that day. Saying she was hungry was defiantly an understatement. Her hands grab the one of the two wraps and she suddenly shoves it into her mouth, immediately feeling a little more satisfied then before.

"You look like me!" Chad exclaims with a mouth full of his taco. Gabriella giggles as a little bit of lettuce falls out of his mouth and onto his plate.

"Chad is obsessed with food." Taylor explains and has a bite of her salad. They were eating in a restaurant that was located outside, near the fence that separated the pool area from the beach. There were white statues located around them with what looked like vines wrapped around the statues.

"Well... yea." Chad says, swallowing his taco basically all in one bite. Gabriella giggles a little and suddenly, the deep brown eyes connect with the piercing blue.

There was something about Troy that made her not want to take her eyes off him. He was cocky, but in a way it worked for him. After the half hour that they waited for their food, Gabriella found out a lot about him. Like, he had never moved in his life, his dad was the basketball coach, and he loved Mexican food. He was charming, in a way, but it wasn't an innocent charming. It was strange, but she didn't want to take her eyes off him. And she wanted to know more about him. But that was just because he was so interesting... right?

"So... how's the camp after the first day?" Taylor asks and Gabriella watches as Chad lets out a dramatic breath.

"Awful. I don't think I've ever run so hard in my life." He exclaims and Troy rolls his eyes.

"Dude... you run the two hundred in track. That's really sad." Troy says and looks at Gabriella, giving her a small smile. "It's not that bad."

"You run track?" Gabriella asks and Chad nods, finishing up the last of his taco.

"Yea. Same with Mr. Take-third-in-state-in-the-400 over here." Chad says, patting Troy on the back.

"And you say I'm cocky. You're the one who fucking brags for me!" Troy says looking at his best friend and smirking. Gabriella giggles a little.

"So you must be Mr. Athlete." Gabriella says and smiles as Troy's eyes connect with hers again.

Troy smirks back. "You could say that."

Taylor rolls her eyes as Gabriella rips hers away from the piercing blue. She takes a sip of her drink and tries not to blush as she could feel Troy's eyes still on her. "Have you guys taken her out to El Calor yet?" Chad asks.

Gabriella feels her eyebrows rise again. What was El Calor? But Taylor shakes her head. "Chad... she's only been here less then two days!" She exclaims and throws her hands up in a dramatic way.

Chad shrugs. "Well... we should take her out there this weekend." He says and Gabriella looks between all of them.

"What the hell is El Calor?" Gabriella asks and her eyes lock to see Troy's eyes were glued on her with an excited look on his face.

"It's a club." Taylor explains and takes a sip on her water that was sitting on the table. "There are a lot of them down here, but this is defiantly the best one."

A small smile forms on Gabriella's face. She loved clubs. Anywhere where she could dance, basically she loved. Her eyes look up again to see that Troy was still staring at her. But it wasn't a creepy stalker stare. It was one of those stares that she liked. One of the ones that made her blush. "Sounds like fun."

Taylor nods." It is. You'll like it. I know you will." She says and takes another sip of water. "We'll go on Saturday."

"Hey... I'm coming too." Chad says and Taylor gives him a flirtatious smile.

"What if I don't want you there?" She asks and Gabriella knew immediately that they were flirting. She looks back and forth between the two. They would look adorable together.

"You know you would have fun without me." Chad says and Gabriella's eyes suddenly lock onto Troy's, who was laughing a little but smiling at her. They both seemed to be thinking the same thing and talking to each other with their eyes. The two were adorable.

"Shar and Zeke will want to come too." Taylor says and Troy rolls his eyes.

"Both teams are gonna end up there." He says and takes a sip of his beer, and Gabriella was pretty sure that he and Chad were both seventeen, but still managed to get alcohol because no one seemed to check here in Mexico. "It's Amber's favorite place."

Gabriella's eyes suddenly shoot up. Troy knew Amber? Well of course he did! They did go to the same school. But for some reason this made Gabriella uneasy. She didn't even know why, but it just did. But then that also made Gabriella sudden think. Did Troy have a girlfriend? Well... it shouldn't matter if he did. She did just meet the guy. But something about them clicked. She found herself desperately wishing that he didn't have a girlfriend.

"Yeah. Amber's gonna be all over that." Taylor says and shakes her head. "Shar will be pissed."

Gabriella suddenly wonders. Why did Sharpay and Amber hate each other? Well, she wasn't sure that Amber hate Sharpay, but the blonde gave Gabriella the impression that she really didn't like her co-captain. And it wasn't that Gabriella didn't like Amber, she just didn't know what to make of her. "Whatever... She's just gonna have to get over it." Troy says and takes another sip of beer.

There were so many questions circling around Gabriella's head. So many things that were unanswered. But she would probably find out about everything in time, she just had to be patient. Gabriella suddenly feels her pocket start to vibrate. She assumes it's her mom, even though she just talked to her a few hours ago. But she pulls out the phone and looks down at the caller id, with her eyes growing wide. She feels her eyes narrow a little as she shakes her head and puts her phone back into her pocket, letting it vibrate against her leg but not wanting to answer it. Anger was staring to rush through her system, but she tries her best to kill it. She never wanted to answer to that number again.

Her eyes look up to see Troy's staring back at her with a smirk. "Miss. Popular?" He says with a smirk as Gabriella rolls her eyes.

"It wasn't important." She says and Troy chuckles.

"So you screen your calls." He says and takes another sip of beer. "You'd better not do that to me." He says and Gabriella rolls her eyes.

"Who said I'd give you my number?" She asks and Troy smirks at her again.

"We're not playing this game again. Cuz you know I'd win." He says, referring to her not telling him her name before. Gabriella smiles and takes a sip of her water.

"I'm always up for a challenge." She says with a smirk. Both continue to stare and smile at each other while the other two teenagers look at each other with confused looks on their faces. Gabriella then finally rips her eyes away from Troy's when she hears her phone beep. She looks down at it, her eyes narrowing even more.

_One missed call: Jose Montez_

She angrily deletes the missed call and looks back up at Troy, trying not to think about her past that caused her so much pain. Her dad.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm sorry the chapters aren't really exciting right now, but hopefully they'll get better soon. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. I love you guys!


	7. Different

The sun beats down onto Troy's bare tan skin as he feels his legs move at an intense rate. _Left, right, left, right_... He could see the bright white line that seemed to be calling to him. It was only a hundred meters left. If he could just get there. His knees lift up higher as his stride lengthens out of the strait-away. Sweat was rolling down his back as his legs start to revolt against him. It was only fifty meters left. He could do this. No, he HAD to do this. His body moves at an intense rate until he finally crosses the bright white line and slows down. His legs finally give out and he bends over and places his hands onto his knees. He feels the wind against his body as the other seven guys cross the line anywhere between 7 to 14 seconds later. He lifts his body up, feeling the sun beat down harder as he puts his hands over his head, with a smirk on his face. He just kicked ass.

"Nice job Cross. You came in at 2:06" Perez exclaims as Jason was panting with his hands on his knees. He came in four seconds after Troy. "I'm glad one of you listened when I told you to maintain the pace instead of being a damn show off."

Troy's mouth practically drops. They were doing a pyramid, which in track terms, was where you built up the distance and then did the same thing only in reverse on the way down. They were running 200, 400, 800, 1200, 1600 (or a mile), then a 1200, an 800, a 400, and last a 200 again. Perez told them to maintain a pace with the rest of the guys, and they had to hit a certain time. Well, they just ran an 800, or a half mile, and their goal time was 2:05. Troy came in at 1:59, because he couldn't handle the slower pace, but it wasn't his record because he wasn't wearing his spikes. Why should he get yelled at for being faster?

Jason looks up at Troy with the same look on his face. Troy wasn't trying to show off. Well, ok maybe a little. But that was because he was the best one here. So why not prove it? "I think you kicked ass." Jason mumbles and Troy glares at Perez.

"Thanks." Troy mumbles angrily and shakes his head. He walks over to the grass and lays down in it, suddenly thinking about the gorgeous girl that couldn't seem to get out of his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about Gabriella after the dinner. She was hot, there was this sexiness that other girls didn't have, and she also showed off this confidence that surprised him, since she didn't know anyone else there. There was defiantly something about her that made her different from other girls he had met. And he wanted to see her again. "Why the fuck does he hate me?" Troy asks randomly and Jason shrugs.

"Who knows. I've never met anyone who's liked me more then you though. I kind of feel powerful now." He says and Troy rolls his eyes.

"Don't get used to it." Troy says, trying not to have a pissed look on his face. He glares up at Perez again to see that the second group was just about to go.

"Alright. You got a 800 now." He says and holds his watch up. "Ready, go!"

Troy watches as the second round of guys go. These were the slower ones, and Troy was pretty sure that two of them were freshman. He sighs and continues to keep his eyes on them, especially one of the smaller ones who seemed to be in the middle. "So how's Kels?" Troy asks Jason while still watching the guys.

Jason shrugs. "Alright. I miss her like hell though. But she's keeping busy. I guess she's playing for some summer play thing."

Troy nods. The small guy with black spiky hair falls to the back a little. Troy couldn't help but to want him to go faster. "It must suck." He says while the freshman fights to get back into the middle of the group. They run around once, with all of the guys from the first group cheering them on. Troy remains silent though, but he continues to watch the freshman.

"Yea... but it does." Jason says and sighs. "So what about you?"

Troy finally rips his eyes away from the pack and looks at one of his best friends. "What do you mean what about me?"

Jason shrugs. "I don't know. I would have thought you tapped a local already or one of the other dance teams." He says and Troy rolls his eyes. A lot of people thought Troy was the king of sex. They had no idea how wrong they were. "Chad mentioned something about the new girl... anything going on there?"

"No." Troy says while trying not to think about Gabriela while they were talking about this. But he couldn't help but imagine her gorgeous frame under him, panting loudly. 'I wish.' He thinks to himself. That was defiantly his hormones thinking though. Why else would he think that way about someone he just met?

The rest of the guys round the curve and start their straight-away. Troy watches as each one of the guys stride out and cross the white line. The black-haired freshman finishes in the middle, and Troy smiles a little. The guy reminded him of Troy at that age. He wasn't quite as good as the older guys, but he wasn't at the bottom either.

"The pace needed to be three seconds faster." Perez says and then looks at the guys who were sitting on the ground. "Get your asses up, you guys are up for a 400." He says while most of the guys groan and stand up. Troy does and walks to the staggered line, since it was a sprint. "I wanna see a 60!" He says, referring to 60 seconds for one lap. "And maybe Bolton over here will actually be part of the team."

Troy feels his eyes narrow. He was pissed. Why shouldn't he show off what he had? If Perez was going to be an ass to him, why not be an ass back? "Prick." Troy mumbles under his breath and leans down to get into a better position. Troy had to be the best. It was something he had to do for the longest time. He had to prove to everyone that he was the best out there. It was a habit he started when he first started playing basketball. A habit that now formed into an obsession when he was nine years-old.

"On your mark." Perez's harsh voice says. "Go!"

Troy feels his legs pick up immediately. He moves his legs at such an intense rate. He had to prove a point. If Perez was going to get pissed about being the best, he was going to shove that right back up his ass. He shoots out of the first curve and sprints down the strait. His legs were pumping at an intense rate as he reaches the curve. His mind was running at a million miles an hour. He had to shove this up Perez's ass. He shoots out of the curve with grace as he was striding out. The sun started to beat down onto his back again, and his legs wanted to revolt, but that wasn't an option now. Loosing was never an option for Troy. Not with anything. He suddenly gets a flash of those gorgeous brown eyes and that beautiful face, and he suddenly gets the energy he needs.

He sprints through the line and hears a click that was the stop watch. Troy sees stars for a moment before falling to the ground from the heat. A couple of guys run to his aid. "I'm fine." He says and gets back onto his feet as the rest of the guys come in.

Troy watches as Perez turns around with an impressed look on his face at first, but then a dark shadow casts over his face as he looks at him. "Are you deaf and stupid?!" Perez yells as Troy places his hands over his head to try to get more air. "Did everyone just hear me say that we wanted to run at a pace?" He yells and everyone looks nervously around. "Didn't I?!"

"Yea." Everyone responds slowly except Troy. Perez walks over to him and leans down, with Troy still panting.

"Do you think you're better then them Bolton?" He asks in a low, but scary voice. Troy squints up and looks at him. "Do you think since you have a little bit of talent you're better then everyone here?"

'Yes.' Troy thinks to himself, but then shakes his head. "No." He says; even though he and everyone else knew that Troy was in fact better then everyone else here.

"Good. Because you're not." Perez says and stands up full way while Troy finishes catching his breath. "It takes a lot more then just talent to get you places Bolton. You're gonna learn that this summer." He says and then looks back at the rest of the guys. "And since Bolton is showing everyone that they're not running up to his expectations, you guys can prove it to him by running another four-hundred, just to make sure he's satisfied."

Every guy groans except for Troy who was glaring at Perez. Who the hell was this guy anyways? And why the hell was he trying to teach Troy a lesson? Troy didn't need to be taught a lesson. He was fine on his own. "That's bullshit!" A guy yells and Perez looks back at them and smirks.

"If that's such bullshit… should I make it a mile instead?" He asks and no one says a word. "That's what I thought."

* * *

Gabriella falls onto her bed and closes her eyes. She could feel her calves throbbing along with her arms. Day two of the camp was so much harder then day one, since she was so sore. It wasn't that she wasn't used to dancing everyday, it was that she wasn't used to dancing at that intensity. She sighs and turns over to see that Taylor was sitting on her bed with her cellphone in her hands. She had been texting Chad all day and Gabriella couldn't help but smile. Why wouldn't they just go out already?

"My legs hurt." Gabriella complains and Taylor sighs.

"My body hurts." She says and Gabriella giggles a little. "So what was with you and Troy last night?"

Gabriella's body freezes for a moment. What did that mean? Sure, she was pretty sure they were flirting, but it was just friendly… right? "What do you mean?"

Taylor shrugs and flips open her phone again, pressing buttons at a rapid rate. "I don't know. You guys seemed to get along well and you barely knew each other." She says and closes her phone. "But then again, it is Troy."

Gabriella's attention was defiantly caught now. What did that mean… it is Troy? Was there something wrong with him? Gabriella certainly didn't think so. But was she missing something? "What's that supposed to mean?" She asks, somewhat defensive and Taylor flips open her phone again.

"Nothing, sorry it wasn't supposed to mean anything. It's just… Troy's like that. Every girl loves him, it's just a fact. Hell… I liked him when I was younger. Just be careful aright?" She says and Gabriella tries not to roll her eyes. What was she, her mother? But something settles in the bottom of Gabriella's stomach that makes her uneasy. She wasn't good at trusting people. "Anyways, Chad and I are going to get smoothies... you wanna come?"

A smoothie sounded incredible right now, but Gabriella knew that she should let the two of them go on their own. "No thanks. You guys go ahead."

Taylor sits up and looks at her. "Are you sure?"

Gabriella smiles and nods. "Yea... go have fun." She says with a wink. "But not too much."

Taylor looks at her as if she's offended but then shakes her head. "I'll be back later."

She walks out the door and suddenly the room becomes unnaturally quiet. She looks around for a moment, before standing up and stretching. Her sore legs carry her over to the balcony and she looks out into the sea with the sun reflected on it. She suddenly didn't want to stay in this room. So she walks back into the room and grabs a black swimsuit top and throws it on, along with her bottoms. She then puts on a pair of red shorts and grabs her sunglasses.

After leaving the room and walking downstairs, she walks out into the pool area. There were still people there, but they were starting to leave now that the sun was going down. Her sore legs carry her over to the white fence and then walk down into the sand. She could walk to the right, towards the gray rocky mountains. Or she could walk to the left, towards the line of hotels. Her feet carry her left.

Her mind was spinning somewhat. Why would her father call last night? She hadn't talked to him in close to three years. He always called, always tried to call. To try and explain or something stupid like that. But she never answered. Her mom told her she should just talk to him, but why should she? He left them, so leaving them meant wanting nothing to do with them. It just made sense.

She walks past her hotel, and then crosses the guy's hotel also. That was the other thing that kept going through her head too. Why was she feeling so weird with Troy? They had technically only known each other for a day, but man, he was making her feel... something she hadn't felt since before prom. Her eyes drift off towards the ocean, thinking about those gray eyes that caused her so much joy, yet so much pain also. She sighs and shakes her head, trying to get the other guy out of her mind and replace the gray eyes with piercing blue ones. Did she have a crush on Troy? Of course. Taylor just confirmed that he was the type of guy every girl wanted. But did she like him? That was the question that needed to be answered. Was it even possible to like someone after knowing them for a day?

"GAB!" She hears someone yell behind her. Her heart skips a beat as she turns around and watches as a figure runs to her. A smile immediately breaks out onto her face as she could see the chestnut brown hair was spiked up a little on his head, making his piercing blue eyes stand out even more then they normally would. He wasn't wearing a shirt but she could see his boxers underneath his black basketball shorts. "Hey."

Gabriella smiles. "Hey Troy." She greets him and looks around to see that they were in front of the next hotel. He must have chased her down. "What are you doing here?"

Troy shrugs. "I saw you walking. Thought I'd come to give you someone to talk to. That is… if you want."

A smile forms on Gabriella's face again. She was happy he was that someone to talk to, especially if that someone was Troy. "Well I guess so." She says in pretend exasperation and Troy chuckles. They suddenly fall into step with each other, not saying a word. Gabriella searches her head for something to say, but nothing was coming. It really wasn't an awkward silence either though. It was comfortable. As weird as it sounded, she sort of liked it. They walk for about ten minutes before she finally turns to him, who had his head down and he was staring at the sand.

"You know..." She says and they stop in front of a part where only a couple was sitting on the ground. Gabriella looks to see that the couple was holding hands, and she suddenly feels a tingling sensation in her own hand, wanting Troy to grab it. But that was only natural right? "When I was a little girl, my mom used to drive me to the beach all the time. I'd dance on the beach and then we'd collect sand dollars." She explains. It was weird that she could talk about her childhood in front of Troy and not feel awkward. But maybe that was just Troy's personality.

A small smile plays on Troy's face. Not a cocky one that she was used to seeing, but an actual smile. "Chad and I used to go to this lake that was nearby. That was the closest thing I've ever had to a beach… well, besides this." He points to the ocean and Gabriella nods.

"So… you and Chad have known each other for a long time." Gabriella says and sits down in the sand. Troy sits down next to her and nods.

"Yea… since preschool." He says and looks at her. "He's like a brother to me."

"Do you have any actual brothers? Or sisters?" Gabriella asks, wanting to know more about him.

Troy hesitates for a moment. He looks at her with a different expression on his face. "I had… uh…" He starts but then looks out distantly into the setting sun again. "I'm an only child."

That was weird. He seemed to be debating about something. How could you not know if you were an only child or not? But Gabriella doesn't want to press the matter, since Troy now had a distant look on his face. She sighs and nods. "I know how you feel… I've never had any siblings. It got kind of lonely sometimes. But I got used to it." She says and Troy tears his eyes away from the horizon and looks at her. Gabriella feels her head tilt to the side a little. Troy seemed different. When she first saw him, he seemed unreal. When she met him in the studio yesterday, he was ungodly cocky. Last night, he seemed to tone it down a little, but it was still there. Now? Troy didn't seem to have a hint of cockiness on him. It was nice. He could pull off any way, but this… she liked this.

Troy nods and then looks down at his feet. "It must suck having to move your senior year." He says randomly and Gabriella shrugs. Sure, she hated moving, and was going to miss her old friends, but this could work too. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

"I guess. But it's not that bad. I've got to meet some pretty great people." She says and nudges her elbow against Troy's. He smirks and then stands up.

"Yea? Who?" He asks jokingly and Gabriella shrugs.

"Well… there's my amazing roommate. One of the captains and her boyfriend. This Wildcat who is probably going to date my roommate. The other captain who seems to be bipolar and doesn't know if she likes me or not. And then there's this basketball captain who's pretty cocky…" She says and Troy rolls his eyes.

"You forgot hot." He says and Gabriella hits his leg playfully. "Sorry. And don't worry about Amber. She can be a bitch, but she can be really great too."

Gabriella feels a tinge of jealousy as Troy talks about another girl. But she shakes it off as he beams down at her. Troy holds out both of his hands and Gabriella smiles up at him. She takes them and instantly feels electrical charges shooting through her hands to her heart. He pulls her up from the sitting position and she looks up into his piercing blue eyes, finding herself getting lost in them. She could stare forever and never get bored.

After a moment, their hands drop and Gabriella looks away nervously. But a smile forms on her face as she half runs over to where the waves were crashing into the sand and watches as Troy turns to look at her. "Come here!" She exclaims while the waves rush up and send cold shivers through her feet. Troy chuckles and walks over.

"Aren't you afraid you're gonna get your hair wet or something?" He asks and Gabriella smiles and shakes her head.

"Who the fuck cares?" She asks as Troy smirks and walks to her.

"You're different then anyone I've ever met." Troy says while Gabriella looks up at him, dipping her feet in the cool salty ocean again. She could see that the sun was setting behind them and her eyes glance over to see that the couple on the beach were making out now. She couldn't help but desperately want to be in that girls shoe's, only with Troy's arms around her instead of that guy. So what if she only knew him for a day. It didn't matter. She knew she was falling for him, falling for a guy for the first time since those piercing gray eyes.

But she suddenly remembers what Taylor said before. About him being a player. "Why? Because I won't let you get into my pants after just looking at you?" She asks with a smile and Troy shakes his head. She takes a couple steps back into the water, letting it surround her calves that were still burning.

"No… You just… are." He says and smiles at her. "And I like it…" He says while taking a couple steps closer to her. Gabriella suddenly feels her stomach do a back flip. He takes another step forward to her, getting dangerously close. But fear takes over and she suddenly slips on an extremely smooth rock and falls backwards. She could feel her body hit the water as it comes up and crashes against her back. "Gab!"

As the water trails back into the ocean, Gabriella bursts out in a sudden fit of laughter. The water crashes up again against her back as she keeps laughing at how clumsy she was. Troy beings laughing too. "Hey! It's not funny!" She says while splashing water onto him.

"Then why are you laughing?" He asks in between laughs and Gabriella continues to giggle. "Here…" He says and holds out his hand again. Gabriella smirks and takes it. But instead of going into a standing position, she pulls Troy, who wasn't expecting this, down into the water. He crashes down with a splash and Gabriella suddenly lets all of her laughter escape as he comes up with a wet face and mouth and spits out sand. "Not funny!"

Gabriella continues to giggle, knowing that he didn't mean it. "That's for laughing at me." Troy stares at her, pretending to be in shock before splashing her with water. Gabriella inhales a mouthful of salt before spitting it out again. "Bastard!" She yells back and Troy splashes her again.

She giggles and stands up, beginning to run away from him with her long, but achy dance legs. But running in sand and water was hard, and she forgot to add in the factor that he was a track star, and she suddenly feels his arms wrap around her waist and pull her up off the ground. She screams a little as he throws her into the water, her eyes filling up with salt. Her body comes up to she was lying on the sand. She flips over so her stomach was up as Troy wet body finds its way next to her. She sits up, with both of their waists hitting the water each time a wave came to shore. "Damn Gab, you've gotta work on your sprints."

Gabriella looks up at him curiously. "Gab?" She asks at the nickname he had been calling her all day. Troy shrugs his shoulders.

"What… do you not want me calling you that?" He asks as Gabriella looks up at thinks for a moment.

"Well, my friends back home called me Brie, along with Taylor is now calling me that. My mom calls me Ella, along with…" She starts to say her father, but then shakes her head. "You can call me whatever you want."

Troy smirks down at her. "So 'sexy' works for you?" He asks and Gabriella blushes. Did he just call her sexy?

"How about something to do with my name." She says and Troy sighs as though he was extremely frustrated. She couldn't help but wish that he would lean over and kiss her.

Troy nods. "I'll figure something out." He says and Gabriella stares up at his crystal blue eyes praying his lips would land on hers.

Troy smiles at her and nudges his shoulder against hers. Gabriella could feel her heart flutter as she swears she sees his eyes close her touch. But almost as soon as it happened, she suddenly hears. "Mommy! Look I'm a fish!"

Gabriella looks away to see that a little girl was playing in the water. A sigh erupts from her mouth as she turns back to Troy. "Err… we should probably head back." Gabriella says, looking to see the sun was lower in the sky now. They both stand up and look at each other awkwardly.

"Yea…" Troy says and they begin to walk back to the hotels. Gabriella feels a leap in her heart as her arm brushes with Troy's. Her question was officially answered. It was very possible to like someone after knowing them for one day.


	8. What Are You Wearing?

_The ball flies into the air and hits the rim. Eight year-old Troy waits impatiently, praying that the ball would just fall into the net. It spins around twice, but then falls to the side, leaving the net swaying in the wind tauntingly. Troy pouts as he could hear laughter from behind him. "That's 'pig'. You loose."_

_Troy pouts again and turns to a nine year-old boy who was walking to him. He had the best nine year-old smile anyone would have ever seen, even though he had metal braces across it. His shaggy hair was a chocolate brown, reminding Troy of his mother's. But what stood out on this kid were his eyes. They were shaped exactly the same shape as Troy's, but the only difference was that this kid's weren't as intense or beautiful as Troy's were. "That's not fair." Troy complains and the kid shakes his head._

"_Life isn't fair bro." He says and pulls Troy into a head lock and ruffles his hair. Troy tries to pull out, but finds himself extremely unsuccessful._

"_Don't call me bro." Troy says as he finally gets out and walks over to grab the basketball. He dribbles for a couple more moments, trying not to look at the other kid who he resembled so greatly. He pushes the ball down harshly, almost as if by doing this he would get better._

"_Troy… you're gonna pop it." The guy says as he walks over and shoots his hand out to grab the ball. Troy turns his back to him and dribbles away. The kid rolls his eyes and walks back over to Troy. "Don't' even bother, we both know who's gonna win this game."_

_Troy looks up at the older boy and frowns. He hated how he was better then Troy was. Troy loved basketball, it was basically his favorite thing in the world. It just sucked to always be stuck in someone's shadow. Whatever he did, the kid could always do better. And it drove Troy insane. "Yea… me." Troy says cockily as the kid walks over to him and Troy faces him. He looks up at the basket and then tries to dribble to the right. But suddenly, the ball disappears from his hands and he looks over to see that the kid was already dribbling to the other side of their backyard court. "Come on Aar!"_

_Aaron Bolton smirks at his younger brother and shakes his head. "I told you I'd get it." He says cockily and shoots it into the basketball, making it in perfectly. Aaron had a natural gift that he was given. Everything seemed to come easy to him, especially in Troy's eyes. But even at eight years old, Troy still was extremely jealous of what his older brother could do. He was so sick of every year, every teacher told him how happy they were to have 'Aaron's brother' in class. Then they'd gush about how perfect Aaron was. It made Troy sick._

_There was only one thing that Troy was better at then Aaron, and that was running. He was quicker, faster, and could always go longer then Aaron could. He always used this to his advantage when he could, since it seemed that it was the only possible thing that he could do to beat his bother at. Otherwise, Aaron seemed to be the better Bolton._

_Troy angrily walks over to the side of the court and sits down in the grass. It was a Saturday, and he had just started third grade a couple of weeks ago, and also joined a rec basketball team with his best friend Chad as well. Aaron, since he was a year older, was on a select team that actually had games that mattered in Troy's eyes. They also seemed to matter more in his parents eyes as well. "It's just cuz you're older." Troy points out and Aaron shakes his head and walks over to were Troy was sitting on the grass and plops down next to him._

"_You'll get there someday. I promise." Aaron says, for once not being the immature nine year old he usually was. He couldn't deny it, Troy loved his brother. They were practically inseparable, and Troy always looked up to him. But he couldn't help always feeling like he was in his brother's shadow. That he had to work harder at everything while it just came easy to Aaron. _

"_But I don't want to wait until someday." Troy says and looks at the ball that Aaron was rolling around on the grass. "I wanna be good now!"_

_Aaron laughs and shakes his head. "If you practiced, you'd get better." He says and Troy huffs angrily. Suddenly, the door opens and both Bolton brothers turn around to see their father, Jack Bolton, standing in the doorway, with his arms crossed._

"_Hey guys." He says. "Practicing?"_

_Aaron nods while Troy refuses to move his head still upset about not being the better Bolton. "Yep! I'm getting ready for the first game next week."_

"_That's my boy." Jack says. He was the coach of Aaron's select team and also helped out at Troy's once a week practices too, that was when he didn't have to coach Aaron's team, or work on the East High team. "I think Kevin's here, and Troy I thought I saw Chad pull up."_

_Aaron and Troy both stand up, since their best friends were there. "Come on, I'll race you to the door." Aaron says and starts running, getting a head start since he knew that Troy would be able to beat him in any race, since the smaller one was faster. But he had to make it a competition. It seemed that everything between the two brothers was a competition._

_But that was because Troy made everything a competition.

* * *

_

The refection of Gabriella lands with perfect grace in the mirror. A grin beams across her face as she feels her chest heave up and down. Her white beater was sticking to her skin as her black spandex also sticks to her butt. She could feel all eyes were on her though the mirror, as a small smile forms on her face. It was probably the best she had ever danced, and she knew it was because her body was on a high right now. "Alright!" The small Hispanic woman yells as she gets up from the same position that Gabriella was in a few feet away and turns to all of the girls. "You're done. Get rest. I want to see this routine perfect by Monday!"

Gabriella gets up off her knees and walks over to where her gym bag was. It was Saturday, which meant the camp went from eight until three thirty unlike the usual seven to five. Almost two weeks had gone by since she had first arrived in Mexico, and she was finally easing into the feeling of being around all of these other people. "God… I swear she's trying to kill us." Sharpay exclaims as she picks up her own pink bag. Taylor grabs her green one and all three stand up.

"It wasn't that bad." Gabriella says, the soreness in her legs from last week had completely worn off and now she was just feeling good about dancing at this intensity. Especially since she was by far the best dancer there, but she would never admit that out loud.

"I know, I'm seriously afraid she's slowly trying to murder us by doing these insane routines that no one can do… well, except Brie." Melissa comes up behind them and the girls nod in agreement. Gabriella feels a flush grow on her face but she doesn't do anything about it. "So… we heard you guys are headed off to El Calor."

Sharpay nods. "Hell yea. You guys in?" She asks as a couple girls crowd around them and all nods. Even though Chad, Troy, Taylor, and Gabriella had all planned to go last week Saturday, both teams were forced to go to bonding with the other teams during their camps, so the plans feel through. But SHarpay and Zeke had told them that they could just go the next Saturday, which would finally be today.

"Of course." Angie replies. "I'm ready to party!" She says while moving her hips from side to side and everyone laughs.

"You're going to El Calor?" A sudden smooth voice asks as the crowd almost splits as Amber walks through them. She smiles her famous smirk.

Taylor nods slowly while Sharpay had her eyes narrowed. "Yea. We are." Sharpay says and Amber nods.

"Why didn't anyone tell me this?" She asks, well, more demands in a soft voice and everyone looks between each other. Honestly, they had forgotten to mention it to anyone else besides Sharpay, and Melissa and the other girls must have heard it from the basketball team.

"Don't worry Am… they didn't mention it to any of us." Angie explains. "I found out from Will on Wednesday." Will, Gabriella knew, was a guy on the basketball team who she had met last Sunday when Troy and Chad had introduced her to the rest of the team when she, Taylor and Sharpay had gone to visit the guys. She had also hung out with them twice with a couple other members of the dance team since then and found that a lot of them were really great, but a lot of them seemed to be very interested in Gabriella also.

"So what time are we going?" Amber asks, placing a smile on her face as if she wasn't offended anymore that no one bothered to tell her.

"I don't know… I have to talk to Chad… cuz we're meeting the guys there." Taylor says honestly and almost as if on cue, Gabriella feels her phone vibrate in her bag. She tries not to let show the small smile that was forming on her face as she knew exactly who it was. But the smile didn't go unnoticed, Taylor and Sharpay both look at her, and she could feel another pair of green eyes on her too.

After easing into becoming friends last week, Gabriella couldn't believe how great the past week had been. She and Troy had seen each other almost every day since they first met, plus they constantly texted each other. They had called each other on the days when they hadn't seen each other, and once getting yelled at by Taylor since she was trying to sleep and it was 11 at night. Troy had become one of her really good friends, even though she liked him a lot. But they hadn't even known each other for two weeks, so there was no need to rush things.

Amber looks back to Gabriella while a smile on her face. "So… you'll get to see what El Calor is all about." She says while looking Gabriella up and down for a moment. "You'll fit right in."

Gabriella's eyes rise. What was that supposed to mean… you'll fit right in? She watches as Amber's smile shows through, but then she suddenly turns away and looks to Brittany, who Gabriella discovered this week was really good friends with Amber. "Come on… I have to get ready."

The two girls leave the studio and Gabriella looks back at the other two. "What the hell does 'you'll fit right in' mean?"

Taylor places a hand on Gabriella's shoulder. "Relax." She says as the rest of the girls start to follow in Amber and Brittany's footsteps by leaving the studio as well. "El Calor isn't like you're normal club. I mean it is, everyone's dancing and grinding and shit… but it's different."

Gabriella feels her eyebrows rise. "Ok?" She more asks then states.

"They dance. Yea, you grind, but some dance crews show up sometimes. It's pretty sick." She says.

"So it's just Amber's way of saying you'll have fun." Melissa says as they walk down a flight of stairs and suddenly become blinded by the light that erupts as they open the door to leave the complex.

Gabriella nods and then suddenly feels a vibrate against her body again. She slowly pulls out her phone and smiles as she reads that she had one new text. A smile forms on her face as she sees the name and quickly reads it.

_Can't wait for El Calor. It's finally time to show me some of your sick ass moves._

Gabriella smiles and begins typing.

_Maybe I won't want to dance with you. _She flirts with Troy back and then shuts her phone. She looks over to see that Taylor was rolling her eyes while Sharpay was looking at her curiously, along with the rest of the girls who were waiting for cabs.

"What?" She asks.

"You guys seriously act like you've known each other for ages. You just met two weeks ago!" Taylor exclaims as Sharpay pulls out her own cell phone and begins typing.

"Wait… who?" Angie asks as the girls look at Gabriella, who tries her best not to blush.

"Don't worry about it." She says, trying not to create a scene. According to Taylor, about half the dance team all had crushes on Troy, which she didn't blame them. But she thought it probably wouldn't be the best idea to tell them that she and Troy were getting closer. Even though she didn't even know if Troy like her or not, it was still fun to imagine what life would be like if Troy liked her back. "He's just easy to talk to." She says honestly and watches as Taylor rolls her eyes again.

"Yea… right… TAXI!" She screams as a white car pulls up.

* * *

Four hours later, Gabriella finally walks out of the bathroom. She was wearing high black heels with a short black skirt and a pink halter. Her hair was curled in huge curls with it pulled half up perfectly as she looks in the mirror and smiles at her outfit. She knew she looked hot, and she wanted to. Most girls at her old school, whenever they went to clubs, always dressed in heels and a skirt. She just assumes that's what Taylor was wearing also. So she walks towards her bed and watches as Taylor's hand flies up from under the bed and feels around for something.

"Have you seen my jean…" She asks and then her hand suddenly grabs an object and Gabriella watches as the clothing was pulled down by the hand. "Found 'em!" Gabriella giggles a little but then watches as Taylor stands up. Her eyes grow wide as she looks at Gabriella and Gabriella stares back, both with shocked looks on their faces.

"What are you…" Taylor starts.

"Wearing?" Gabriella finishes as she looks at her new best friend. Taylor was wearing a low cut pink v-neck knit so you could see her cleavage. Over it was a loose blue hoodie and she was just pulling on her jean shorts now. "Aren't we going to a club?" She asks and Taylor starts laughing.

"Brie… you look sexy, but this isn't that type of club." She says while she walks over, still laughing a little. "This is underground, not some fancy thing. You wanna wear something easy to move around in." She says as she opens up Gabriella's suitcase.

Gabriella sighs and pulls off her black heels, a little relieved that she didn't have to wear them now. "Why didn't you tell me BEFORE I got dressed?"

Taylor laughs a little again and continues to dig through. "Because I didn't see what you grabbed." She says as she pulls out a pair of dark grey sweat pants Victoria's Secret sweat pants that you could scrunch up to the knee. "Sorry."

Gabriella giggles a little as Taylor continues to go through her clothes. The two had basically become inseparable. Gabriella had to admit, that if she could call someone her best friend here, it would defiantly be Taylor. Sharpay was up there too, but the two girls had bonded more then anyone else she had ever met had. "So… sweatpants?" She asks and Taylor shrugs.

"I've seen you dance. You'll split something and people will see your complete ass if you wear anything else." She says as she continues to go through Gabriella's clothes. "Unless you want a certain captain to see it?"

Gabriella rolls her eyes. "Funny. I could say the same about you and Chad."

Taylor gives her an evil look and Gabriella laughs. Taylor and Chad were practically dating, but Gabriella knew all Chad had to do was ask her out, and everything would be great. Taylor pulls out a white short-sleeved hoodie for her and then pulls out a light blue beater that was cut off a good three inches from her navel, exposing her pierced bellybutton. She then grabs a black bra for her and shoves the clothes into Gabriella's hands. "Change into this." She says and Gabriella nods obediently. She takes off her pink halter and replaces it with the beater and white hoodie, instantly feeling more comfortable. "See? What would you do without me?"

Gabriella laughs a little as she slips on the dark gray sweatpants. "Probably be stuck at this camp with a boring roommate instead of you."

Taylor rolls her eyes and Gabriella grabs her reebok shoes that were black with a white stripe on it. She laces them up and then stands up fully, while Taylor smirks. "You looked hot before… but you could basically wear anything and be hot."

Gabriella smiles, feeling much more comfortable. "I look like I'm going dancing."

Taylor laughs. "Well… it's a good thing you are." She says and Gabriella rolls her eyes, grabbing the eyeliner that was sitting on the counter.

* * *

Troy runs his fingers down the front of his hair as he suddenly hears a vibrating noise on the counter. His eyes turn over as he sees his phone shaking and a grin appears on his face. His hand grabs the phone as he flips it open and sees the two letters staring back at him. He frowns as he shuts his phone again and looks back into the mirror. "Dude… you've been staring in that mirror long enough. I'm starting to think your turning into a bitch."

Troy rolls his eyes as he straightens out his black long wife beater and then walks over to be Chad was sitting on his bed, tapping his hands nervously. Troy was also wearing baggier jeans then usual, but they weren't falling down or anything. His eyebrows rise at his best friend's behavior. Chad seemed tense all day today, even during their shortened camp. Troy had been excited all week, ever since they had to cancel last weekend. But Chad? He didn't seem excited. Instead he seemed nervous. Extremely nervous. And it was starting to scare Troy. "You alright man?"

Chad looks at his best friend and nods all too quickly. "Yea… I'm great."

Troy shakes his head. "I'm not buying the bullshit. What's up?" He asks as Chad looks at him nervously.

"I'm doing it." He simply states and Troy raises his eyebrows.

"Um… doing what?" He asks confused, before Chad looks up at him, still with a nervous face on.

"I'm asking her."

Troy's mouth literally drops about five feet. "No…" Was the only thing that could come out of his mouth. "Taylor?" He asks and watches as a grin breaks out onto Chad's face and Troy continues to stare at him in shock.

"Yea… I'm doing it tonight." He says as Troy's face still lights up but he still shakes his head in shock.

"That's great!" Troy exclaims and pats Chad on the back. "It's about damn time."

Chad shrugs and smiles. "Yea… I guess." He says and he resumes patting his hands on his bed and Troy smirks.

"You two have been practically screwing each other for like half the year. I think it's about time." Troy says and Chad shakes his head.

"We haven't been screwing each other." Chad says and Troy rolls his eyes.

"Sure… whatever you say buddy." He says and Chad shakes his head.

"We haven't!" Chad exclaims and Troy throws his hands up in defense.

"Ok… ok… don't flip a shit."

Chad sighs and nods. "Sorry man, just nervous."

"Whatever. She'll say yes. Gabi says that she's like, fucking in love with you." The grin on Chad's face bursts brighter as he hears the good news and Troy couldn't help but laugh at the way his body seemed to relax after hearing the information.

"Gabi?" Chad asks and Troy shrugs. "You've been spending a lot of time with her."

Troy tries to look away to hide the smile that couldn't help but form on his face. He and Gabriella had been spending a lot of time together, and talking together. He knew she was quickly turning into one of his best friends. But he also knew that he couldn't help feeling something more for her. She was different then any girl he had been with before and he liked it. A lot. "Yea… well… you know." He says with a smile and Chad rolls his eyes.

"And for once she's not stupid." He says and Troy shakes his head.

"I haven't dated stupid girls." Troy says and Chad laughs.

"You haven't DATED since like freshman year." He says and Troy pauses for a moment, and then nods confirming it was true. "And you gotta admit, a couple of the girls you've done were stupid."

Troy rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Like two."

Chad finally rolls his eyes, Troy figures not trying to argue with him. "Oh well, Brie's hot… you got good taste." Chad says and sits up, patting Troy on the back. Troy nods and couldn't help but fall back into a daydream of Gabriella's gorgeous body lying naked under his own while he thrusts forcefully. But he quickly shakes his head as he realizes Chad was now standing up, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. "So… you ready to bounce?"

Troy nods his head and stands up, glancing at the clock to see that it was eight. They were supposed to meet the girls there at eight-thirty. He could feel his own nerves settling in as he turns back to his best friend. "Yea." He says, swallowing the lump in his throat that was starting for form. "Let's go."


	9. Best Dancer

Troy could feel the music pumping around him. His eyes danced across the almost pitch black room with strobe and multicolored lights flying in hopes that they would show up. People were grinding everywhere, dancing, everything. He was praying they would show up soon. But he takes another sip of his beer and looks over to his best friend who had the same expression on his face that Troy did… longing. Both guys wanted the same thing, only different people. "Would they fucking hurry up?" Chad asks impatiently as he taps his fingers on the beer he was holding.

"Calm down man, they'll be here." Zeke exclaims, putting a hand on Chad's shoulder to calm him down. Chad shoots him a dirty look as if it was Zeke's fault for them not being here and Zeke rolls his eyes. He had told Jason and Zeke about what he was planning on doing, but Troy was pretty sure that was all. His eyes scan the dance floor again to see that a couple of the guys had already gone out and were dancing with some random girls, but most of them were on the side by the huge wrap around bar, waiting impatiently for the girls to arrive. People were dancing and basically having sex on the floor. It wasn't uncommon though, Troy had been coming here for four years and seeing this was nothing new.

"So… Gabriella's coming right?" One of the other soon to be seniors, Dane, asks as Troy turns to him, suddenly filling jealousy in his veins. Dane was almost as tall as Zeke, with sandy brown hair that was always spiked up and he had black beady eyes.

"Yea… she's coming." Chad responds.

"She's so hot." Another guy, Will, who had long black shaggy hair and brown eyes but a soft face says and Troy could feel the slight anger pumping through his veins along with the beat of the music. No… they couldn't think she was hot. If anyone had dibs on her, it would be Troy. No, Gabriella WAS Troy's. There was no question to that.

"I'd tap her in a heartbeat." Dane says and Troy feels his hands tighten on the chair he was gripping, turning his knuckles white and watches as Zeke looks at him and laughs.

"Whoa… Troy calm down." He says and Troy glares at him for a moment.

"Sorry." Troy mumbles and shakes his head. He grabs his beer again and takes a sip, feeling the alcohol drain down his throat. He then looks to see that Chad's eyes had just lit up like the sky. Troy feels his heart skip a beat as his body slowly turns towards where the basketball team had entered the club a few hours ago. He watches as the first girl, with her long straight brown hair hanging down on her body which held a black top that only covered her chest and dipped dangerously low on her chest, almost looking like a bra to Troy. She was also wearing white cut off above the knee close fitting sweat pants that hung so low you could see her bright red thong sticking out of them. The guy hormones kick in and Troy watches with wide eyes as Amber leads a group of girls into the club, scanning for something.

But Troy quickly shakes his head, convincing his hormones that Amber was a slut and he shouldn't have wasted his time with her, and scans the heads for another girl, one that he wanted to see more then anyone. But he couldn't find her with all of the girls walking towards. Troy looks to the side to see that all of the guys' eyes were locked on the dance captain, just like Troy's were a minute ago. He turns back and his eyes pass right over Amber's head, as he searches for the deep brown eyes he had been waiting for ever since he got there.

"Hey guys." Amber says smoothly as she stops in front of them with Brittany at her side. Troy tries to look around them, to try and find the center of the circle that seemed to form by them. Troy grabs a quick glance of what looked like familiar almost black hair, but it was blocked by Brittany, who shifts her weight to the other foot.

"What's up?" Will asks, but Troy could see he was basically drooling on the side of his mouth. It seemed that the only ones who weren't transfixed with Amber's body were now Troy, Chad who was searching for Taylor by the looks of it, and Zeke who was leaning up against the bar boredly. Even Jason seemed to have a look in his eyes that would make Kelsi cringe.

Suddenly, the circle that was formed suddenly seems to split into two. Troy watches as Amber walks towards Will and Dane with Brittany, Erica, and Jessica. Some of the other girls walk towards the other guys that were there, but then Troy feels his eyes lift up as suddenly the music was drawn out through his ears. Walking towards him was hotter then forty Ambers combined into one, and she didn't even have to look sluty. Her light blue top seemed to be tight enough for Troy to at first think it was a sport's bra, but then realizes it was only a beater since he could see the black straps of her bra showing slightly.

His hands twitch as he gets the desire to move his lips around her completely flat stomach that showed of her pierced belly button perfectly. She takes perfect strides over, with a smirk on her face as her dark chocolate colored eyes connect with his piercing blue. Her large curls that were pulled half up bounce as she walks towards him with Sharpay on her left and Taylor on her right with their arms connected to each other. Angie and Melissa also were connected to either side of Taylor and Sharpay, but Troy barely noticed the other girls. "Hey." Gabriella yells in her angelic voice over the music as Troy suddenly couldn't remember how to talk. He feels a light push on his back as he figures Zeke tries to knock him into reality again.

"You look incredible." Troy manages to get out as he watches Gabriella's cheeks blush a little as she looks him up and down. She takes a couple steps forward to him, still smiling as Troy couldn't take his eyes off her. God she was gorgeous.

"Thanks… You don't look half bad yourself." She says and Troy feels a smirk fall onto his face.

"Looking good Troy." He could hear Angie's voice echo in his ear. His eyes reluctantly rip away from Gabriella's when she averts her gaze to Taylor, who was still standing next to her. Troy smirks and nods at Angie, then looks to see his best friend and Taylor were both staring at each other.

"Uh… you thirsty?" He could hear Chad ask as he glances to the side to see that Gabriella was giggling slightly.

"Um… yea." Taylor responds and Chad nods awkwardly, and then takes her hand and they start walking to where the bartender was. Gabriella and Troy both look back at each other at the same time and start laughing at their awkwardness.

"Wow… could it be any more obvious?" Sharpay asks, now leaning up against Zeke. Angie, Melissa, and Will who seemed to leave Amber were standing with the five of them. Troy rolls his eyes and shrugs.

"If everything goes according to his plan… it could be." Troy says and tries his hardest not to stare at Gabriella. He had seen her wearing less clothing than this before, but this some how just made Troy want her. Maybe it was the club setting, who knows. But Troy couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He turns back to Gabriella and feels his back lean up against the counter as he takes the last sip of his beer and then places it down onto the counter. "So… you should let me buy you a drink."

Gabriella rolls her eyes but smirks back up at him. "And why's that?"

Troy smiles back and tries to come up with some excuse for it. "Cuz I want more shit and if you let me buy something for you, I have an excuse to get more." He lies and Gabriella laughs a little as Troy sees in the corner of his eye that Zeke and Sharpay were making their way to the dance floor.

"I'm glad to see you care about me." She says jokingly as Troy smirks and tilts his head to the right.

"Come on." Melissa, Angie, Jason, and Will must have been completely obvious to the fact that the two were leaving because none of them made any motion to ask where they were going. Troy starts to walk in the other direction, but suddenly feels a drunken crowd swarm around him. He glances back to see that Gabriella was lost until one of the guys moves and her head was peaking around the guy's back. Troy smirks as she reaches out her hand as Troy takes it, instantly lacing their fingers out of a reflex that he didn't even he did.

"So you're trying to get me lost." She asks and Troy rolls his eyes as he pulls her to where Chad and Taylor were a moment ago, but Troy could now see the two off a little, laughing about something. "God they should just go out."

"Chad's asking her tonight." Troy informs her and watches as a smile brightens on her face. He smirks back as they make their way up to the front and Troy turns to her. "What do you want?"

"I'm in Mexico, so I gotta have tequila." She says with a smile that takes Troy by surprise since he hadn't seen Gabriella drink yet. "I'll have a Pacific Sunrise."

Troy orders his as well. After getting them, Troy suddenly hears a voice yell out from the crowd that could be heard over the music. "'EY YO DJ! SPIN THAT SHIT!"

Troy smirks and turns to Gabriella. "You're gonna love this." He says as he grabs her hand subconsciously again after draining his drink. Once Gabriella was done with hers, they walk out further onto the dance floor as cheering was starting. Troy hurries while he pulls Gabriella in front of him so she could be right in front where a circle suddenly formed. Troy was watching over her shoulder as he suddenly feels a body up next to him and he turns to see that Dane, Brittany, Amber, and a junior on the basketball team were standing next to him.

"Hey Brie." Dane smirks down as Gabriella gives him a bright smile that causes Troy's jealousy to send through in his veins. "You look hot."

Gabriella blushes in front of him as Troy tries not to clentch his fists. "Thanks Dane." She says and suddenly the music changes beat and her head snaps back around to see the scene in front of her.

"Watch this." Troy mumbles in her ear, purposefully brushing up against her earlobe and Troy swears he sees her shiver in front of him.

Suddenly, five guys walk out into the middle of the circle dressed in all black and sunglasses. Troy smirks as they suddenly rip their jackets off and the crowd cheers, revealing them in white wife beaters. Two of them that were on the sides flip towards the center as Troy watches Gabriella's eyes grow wide. The dance crew starts break dancing, doing everything from flips, to the worm, to spinning on their heads. The crowd was going wild at each stunt that was performed. Troy smiles at the amazement in Gabriella's face as the crew suddenly goes into sync with the others while dancing.

The group ends with a pose and the crowd suddenly rushes towards them. Troy could hear Gabriella's sweet laugh and she suddenly turns to him and smiles. "That was incredible."

He nods and leans closer to her ear. "Yea… you'll get about twelve of those tonight."

A smile erupts on her face as the crowd suddenly starts dancing again. Troy takes a deep breath and reaches down to grab her hips, smiling slightly when he suddenly hears a voice that makes him groan. "Brie!" Dane walks up to the three of them and smirks at Gabriella and nods at Troy. Didn't the guy see that they were just about to go places? But Troy knew that Dane was sort of an idiot, and didn't take in things around him. "I think you should dance with me."

Gabriella's eyes lock with Troy's for a moment, who nods his head reluctantly as if saying that he'd get to her later, even though he was clearly about to make his move now. She looks back to Dane and smiles. "Alright."

Troy backs up, giving the two space and suddenly feels jealousy pour over his body as Dane wraps his arms around Gabriella's waist. He could see both of their pelvises were rubbing up against each other and Gabriella's arms wrap around Dane's neck. He tries his hardest not to throw up at the scene, or go over there and knock Dane down.

He suddenly feels his back connect with someone and turns around slowly to see that another brunette was turning around as well. A smile erupts onto her smooth features, but in almost an intimidating way. "Hey!" Amber exclaims and puts her arms up. "I haven't seen you all night."

"I know." Troy responds while she wraps her arms around his neck for a moment, with Troy returning the hug. They break apart and she continues to smirk up at him. "Having fun?"

She tilts her head to the side and gives him her famous smirk. "I'd be having move fun if you'd dance with me."

Troy chuckles a little and glances back to see that Dane was trying to get into it more as Gabriella didn't seem to be working with him. He turns his head away, figuring that he'd just get to her later. So his arms pull Amber's back to his front as she spins around and they immediately catch rhythm.

* * *

Gabriella could feel Dane was hard through his jeans. She glances over to see that Troy was now grinding with Angie in his arms as she sighs in frustration. She wanted to be in those arms, not Angie. She loved Angie, but right now she would have given anything to be in her place. She rips her eyes away from them and looks to the other side to see where Sharpay and Zeke were making out heavily, even in front of all these people. A few people away were Chad and Taylor, who seemed to be dancing happily. Overall, she was having a good time, but she desperately wanted to be in Troy's arms instead of Dane's.

"You look so hot… did I mention that?" Dane asks as she could feel his mouth rub up against her earlobe, in the way Troy did it but not sending her the same shivers.

"Yea… you did… but thanks." She says trying to be polite. She feels him lean his head down into the crook of her neck and then suddenly feels something wet on her skin. It takes her a moment to realize that it was his lips and she suddenly takes a step forward, getting away from his grasp. She turns around and faces him, with his expression confused.

"What?" He asks as Gabriella rubs bare arm nervously. She didn't want him to kiss her, which was just weird. She liked Dane, but not in the way he was aiming for.

"Um… I need to go find Taylor." She lies and Dane raises his eyebrows.

"Why?" He asks and Gabriella suddenly freezes up. She couldn't come up with a lie that quickly, but she suddenly feels another presence around her as she looks to the side to see a familiar brunette walking towards them.

"The whole point of a club is to dance." Amber says and Gabriella raises her eyebrows. Was that supposed to be a joke? She couldn't tell. "I would have thought you of all people wouldn't have stopped." She says while looking Gabriella up and down intimidating.

"I…" She starts, but doesn't know what to say to that. "Have you seen Taylor?" She asks even though she knew Taylor was with Chad a few people behind her.

Amber slowly nods. "Yea… six people behind you." She says and turns to Dane. "And I think you should dance with me." She says and Gabriella suddenly finds herself thanking Amber deep down, even though she was pretty sure saving Gabriella weren't her intentions.

"Brie and I…" He starts but Gabriella shakes her head.

"No… go ahead." She says while Amber looks at her with a raised eyebrow. It gives Gabriella the chills for a moment before she turns away and begins to walk towards where Amber told her Taylor was.

The crowd was condensing so she couldn't get very far. Two drunken guys try to sandwich her in, but she slips out and they end up colliding together. She tries not to giggle as she finally reaches her destination where Taylor was looking up at Chad beaming happily. But Chad's eyes lock on Gabriella's and a smile erupts onto his face. "Hey Gab!"

Taylor suddenly looks down as she escapes Chad's arms and pulls Gabriella into a hug. "We're together!" She exclaims and Gabriella's eyes grow wide.

"No way." She says even though she remembered Troy telling her this before.

"Yep." Chad says while putting an arm around Taylor's shoulder. "It's official."

Gabriella beams as she stares at the two. "Congratulations!" She exclaims as the both look at each other with longing in their eyes. She suddenly feels guilty for interrupting them, but the feeling goes away when Chad pulls Taylor's hips to him again and watches as they catch rhythm. "It's about damn time!"

Taylor smiles. "That's what I told him." She says and Gabriella giggles a little.

"So you having fun?" Chad asks as Gabriella suddenly feels two arms slip around her waist. She looks up to see a random guy, who had alcohol on his breath was moving against her. Gabriella reflexively moves her hips from side to side and nods.

"Yea… this place is amazing." She says as she points around to the blackness with the multicolored lights flying. She suddenly feels the guy harshly pull her hips closer to him. Gabriella looks to the left to see that Angie was now dancing with Will and Amber was with Dane. Her eyes scan for the gorgeous piercing blue-eyed boy, but finds he was nowhere to seen.

The song that was playing ends and she pulls her body away from the drunken guy, turning to Taylor and Chad. "I'm gonna get something to drink." She says, even though she really only wanted to get away from that guy. They nod as she begins to walk in the other direction again, squeezing around other people. It was a good thing she was flexible and small, because some of these people wouldn't move at all.

But her breath suddenly catches in her throat as she feels two arms slip around her waist and pull her back into a pair of hips. She looks down to see a familiar red and gold class ring glinting in the multicolored lights on his right hand. She smiles as their bodies begin to move to the rhythm of the music intensely as she could feel shivers running throughout her body. "Do you realize you're fucking impossible to get to?" She shivers as she feels his hot breath against her ear as she nods slowly and looks up to be met by a pair of piercing bright blue eyes.

Gabriella smiles seductively as she spins around in his arms and wraps hers around his neck while rubbing their pelvises together dangerously. "So you're not up for challenges?"

Troy smirks down at her and leans against her ear. "I'm always up for one."

She feels her body shiver at his breath as she continues to move their hips together as one. He spins her around in his arms again as he drops his hands lower on her hips but pushes them closer to his. She could feel her body getting stimulated as a small throb was beginning to form in between her legs. With a poke in her butt, she could tell Troy was enjoying this just as much as she was as she could feel his hot breath against her skin. "So… Tay and Chad are official." She says, trying to calm her body down even though she was loving what Troy was doing to it.

"Yea?" He mumbles. "About fucking time."

Gabriella grins as she steps a little more away from Troy. She bends over and then slowly brings it back up again, pushing her butt up against Troy's body while she could feel his hands roam north across her stomach and grazing her chest. He moans into her ear as her body trembles a little to his touch.

She suddenly feels something wet against her neck as it suddenly occurred to her that Troy was kissing her. But instead of pulling away like she did with Dane, her neck turns to the side a little to give Troy better access to it. Her hands wrap around the back of his neck as she could feel the music coursing through her body, causing her hips to push harder with Troy's.

Two weeks they had known each other. Two weeks seemed so short, yet for Gabriella and Troy, it had seemed like a lifetime. She moans as she feels Troy's lips connect with her sensitive spot as she arches her back to him to give him more access. She could feel her panties beginning to get wet as Troy's hands roam across her stomach in a way that made her want him even more.

The music suddenly changes beat and off in the distance could be heard a male's yell. Neither Troy nor Gabriella notice as a circle forms in the corner of the club. People around them were still grinding as they didn't notice that either. The only thing Gabriella could feel was the music pumping through her veins, causing her the high that she always got when she was doing the thing she loved most… dancing. "Troy…" She says but Troy responds by spinning her around in his arms she they were facing each other again.

His hands drop onto her lower back as both of their breaths were uneven. Gabriella couldn't help but picture both of them in this position, only horizontal lying on a bed with their clothes discarded. "They're right you know." He says into her ear as he pulls their pelvises together closer.

"Whose right?" She asks with her breath uneven as she could feel Troy's head was in the crook of her neck.

"Everyone." He responds and she feels his lips connect with her skin again. She didn't know if it was the alcohol that was causing him to do this, or maybe he really wanted it. She was praying it was the latter of the two.

"About what?" She asks as she could feel his lips come closer towards her ear and he kisses her jaw line.

She wanted him to kiss her. Even though they had only known each other for two weeks, she desperately wanted him to kiss her. But his lips trail back the other way towards her neck and she tries her hardest not to sigh angrily. This guy was incredible, and she wanted him. His thumbs begin to rub circles on her lower back as his head comes back up and he smiles at her. A smile that was curved with the lips that she so desperately wanted to land on hers. But he just continues to moves his hips against hers, not connecting their lips like she was praying they would.

"You're the best fucking dancer I've ever met."


	10. Three Reasons

_Her feet were dangling off the back of the red truck as she leans her head up against his soft chest. The moon shone onto her faces since there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Crickets were chirping softly in the distance but Gabriella couldn't hear them. All she could hear was the soft beating of his heart with her own in sync with his. His strong, muscular arm pulls her closer to his chest as his fingers danced across her bare arm. Her dark chocolate colored eyes connect up with his gray as he gives her his world famous smile. "You comfortable?"_

_Gabriella reflexively adjusts herself under the blanket as she nods. Her eyes look out over the landscape. The bright lights of the city could be seen off in the distance, but other then that the only light that was illuminating was the moon and the stars. They were sitting on top of a hill, parked so they could get away from all the troubles and everything. "Yea. Thanks." _

"_You looked incredible. Defiantly danced the best of all them." He says while pressing a kiss to her forehead. Gabriella feels herself blush._

"_Yea right." She says and shakes her head. "There's no need to flatter me Deitz, you already have me."_

_Collin Deitz smirks as he shrugs. "Well… it always helps if I ever get into trouble." He says and leans back a little on the truck. Gabriella feels him pull her back as her feet leave the spot they scoot backwards onto his pick-up truck._

"_Thanks… but I'm not the best in the company. Lynn is so much better." She says, remembering they had just gotten done with a performance and was now on a date with the guy of her dreams. The only one she ever wanted to be with. Her soul mate._

"_No way." He mumbles while beginning to let his lips dance across her neck. Gabriella moans to his touch as they back up and she feels his heavy body slip on top of hers. Sparks were shooting everywhere it seemed and his hands made their way up under her shirt and she suddenly gasps as he begins to massage her breast. _

"_Collin…" She moans as he continues to give her pleasure as he makes his spot on her neck. His hand leaves that one and moves to the other one while Gabriella's nails were dancing across his abs. She feels him tremble above her as she smiles and he disconnects their lips and sits up, straddling her._

_He slowly takes off his shirt and smiles down at her. "Gabi." He says her name before connecting their lips together again. Somehow, the vision of them first meeting freshman year during gym class enters her mind, remembering how she had a crush on him since the moment she saw him. Now, two years later and dating him for one, it seemed that she would never be able to look at a guy again, since Collin was the only on for her._

_His hands rub up and down her sides as she feels her body tremble to his touch. Their lips mold together as their tongues tango together. Gabriella's flexible legs wrap around his waist as his hand brushes the front of her jeans gently and pulls on the zipper. He sits up full ways again and reaches behind him. Gabriella watches as he pulls out his wallet and grabs a bright green wrapper. Her stomach does four back flips as panic spreads through out her body. "Collin… we talked about this."_

_Collin looks down at her and raises his eyebrows. "A month ago. Things change." He says as his hands play with the green wrapper in them. "Come on Gab, don't tell me you don't want this."_

_Gabriella tries to sit up but finds it difficult since he was straddling her body. "I just don't want to do it now ok? It's not the right time." She says while staring up into his gray eyes, begging with them._

_Collin shakes his head frustrated. "Come on! Joey and Lynn have been going out for six months and they've done it!"_

_Gabriella glares up at him angrily. "Well good for them." She says as he groans. "I just don't think tonight's the right time alright?"_

_Collin glares at her for a moment and then gets off her. He knew she was a virgin, but lately all he had been doing was pushing for sex. It wasn't that Gabriella didn't want to do it, but she just didn't want to do it now. Sure, Collin was the one for her, but if he really cared about her, he'd wait until she was ready… right? "You're such a tease."_

_Gabriella's body shoots up and she glares at him angrily. "We've done everything but that Collin! I'm sorry but I'm not ready yet damn it!" She screams and swears she almost hears the crickets stop chirping._

_Collin narrows his eyes at her for a moment then shakes his head. "Whatever." He says and runs a hand through his hair. "Do you love me?"_

_Gabriella responds without a moment's hesitation. "Of course."_

_He nods and sighs. "Then why don't you trust me with this?"_

_Her mind freezes for a moment. The answer was simple; it was because the hardest thing for her to do was trust people. She could thank Jose Montez for that one. But she closes her eyes and tries to come up with a lie, but finds herself unsuccessful. "I just can't do it now ok?" She says and grabs his muscular arm. She kisses his bare shoulder and sighs. "If you love me… you'll wait."_

_Collin doesn't respond but stares off into the horizon instead. "Whatever." He says with a hint of anger in his voice. An anger that never truly went away.

* * *

_

The light from the sun beams down onto her face and she groans. Gabriella bends her back a little as she stretches, feeling the blood rush though her ears but continues to keep her eyes closed. Her head had a small throb to it, but it wasn't awful since she didn't drink THAT much last night. Reluctantly, her eyes squint open in time to see Taylor's sleeping body on the bed. She sits up and glances at the clock to see that it was 8:23 AM. She rubs her eyes and sighs, memories of last night flooding around her.

She and Troy had gotten to a different level last night and she knew it. Sure, they were friends and they weren't dating, but she knew that they just went up another level after last night. She sighs as she closes her eyes and imagines Troy's hands on her body in ways that would make her kill for him to do it again.

Gabriella had only been in love once, and that was with Collin Deitz. They were best friends when they met freshman year, but Gabriella had always wanted more. They started dating sophomore year but broke up right after prom, for reasons that she didn't want to think about, they hurt to bad. She still thought about him, she couldn't deny that. Thought about the way his hair stuck up perfectly, or the way his gray eyes used to pour into hers. But that was a part of her past… on that she wasn't going to revisit any time soon.

But with Troy… it was starting to scare her a little how bad she wanted him. How can you fall this hard for someone in two weeks? But with Troy, it was possible. Very possible in Gabriella's eyes. She feels her body sigh as she rips off her covers and walks towards the window for a moment, staring off into the Gulf of Cortez. The sun was shining brightly onto the ocean as she could see a few people already walking out to get some sun.

She suddenly hears a noise behind her and turns around to see a blob starting to move on the opposite bed. Taylor sits up and stares at Gabriella for a moment, blinking a couple of times before actually realizing that she was there. She sits up and rubs her forehead tiredly as Gabriella tries not to giggle. "Morning sunshine!" She says with energy.

Taylor groans as she rubs her temples and looks back at Gabriella. "Would you stop with the peppiness?" She asks tiredly as Gabriella walks over to her bed and jumps on it, her high ponytail almost bouncing with excitement. "It's kinda annoying at…" She pauses as she glances at the clock and then looks back to Gabriella. "8:45 AM."

Gabriella shrugs. "Well some of us didn't drink our weight." She says as Taylor stretches and yawns.

"We were celebrating." She says while putting her arms down and grabbing her pillow to pull it to her chest.

Gabriella smiles. "I know. But come on. We should wake up the guys and Sharpay and hit the beach. I wanna get tan."

Taylor rolls her eyes. "You're already tan. And why are so eager to go anyways?" She asks and Gabriella tires to hide the smile that was playing on her lips thinking about her new favorite basketball captain. Realization shoots across Taylor's face as she smiles. "You wanna get to Troy don't cha?"

Gabriella blushes and opens a drawer to pull out her white and green stripped suit with gold straps **(one of the ones Vanessa wore when she and Zac went to Hawaii)**. "I just want to enjoy Mexico." She says with a smile as she rips off her purple cami to reveal a black sports bra. "And if that means being around hot Albuquerque basketball captains, then that's how I'm going to enjoy it."

After letting Taylor change and grabbing a bagel for breakfast, Gabriella and Taylor arrive at 414 in the hotel next door. Taylor knocks on the door gently and Gabriella turns to her, waiting for the door to open impatiently. She leans her body up against the wall as her white swim suit cover up dress was hanging down with her white sandals. She smiles to see that Taylor was now awake.

The door opens and Gabriella watches as the dark guy with a gigantic afro that was sticking up everywhere stand in the doorway while rubbing his eyes. She tries her best not to giggle as he looks through his bags at them and softly closes the door behind him, but leaves it open ajar to make sure they weren't locked out. "What the hell are you doing here at 9:15 AM?"

Taylor pouts. "Oh, so that's how you're going to greet your new girlfriend?"

Chad rolls his eyes and kisses her cheek gently. "Sorry." He mumbles as he wraps his arms around her body and she returns the hug. Gabriella looks away awkwardly as she hears a quick smack and figures that they kissed on the lips. "So how are you?"

"Fine." Taylor responds as she unwraps her arms from his neck and laces their hands together.

"Good. Now… what the hell are you doing here?" She asks as Gabriella smiles at him.

"The beach. Shar and Zeke are already down there saving us chairs. SOME people are actually useful." Gabriella jokes as Chad rolls his eyes.

"Some people also don't have hangovers." He says as he rubs his face again. "At least I'm not like sleeping beauty in there. He wasn't even wasted last night and he won't move."

Gabriella smiles at the reference to Troy. "I'll wake him up." She says as she grabs the door handle and Chad's eyes grow wide, grabbing her hand.

"Not a good idea." He says as Gabriella looks up at him with curiosity in her eyes. "You don't fuck with Troy when he's sleeping. It's kinda scary."

Gabriella smiles and shakes her head. "I guess I gotta take that chance huh?" She says while she pushes open the door and walks inside the room. Lying in the mix of what looked like a million sheets, was a bump that seemed to have no form. But Gabriella could see the tan skin that was his bare shoulders and the light chestnut colored hair with his nose pressed against the white pillow. She giggles a little as she walks towards the bed and sets her bag down. Her light, flexible body crawls up onto the bed, not making a sound as she leans up into Troy's ear and let's go of a hot breath. "Wake up Bolton."

She could hear a groan erupt from the form as it moves a little and his head goes further into the pillow. "Get the fuck away Chad… it's Sunday."

Gabriella giggles as she leans down more and leans up to his ear. "It's also time to get up." She says and hears Troy groan again.

"Fuck off…" He says and flips over so his body was facing up. She could see his hair was showing off the bed head and she tries her best not to let her mouth drop, thinking it looked incredibly sexy. His blue eyes flicker open for a moment. He stares up at her blankly, but then his eyes suddenly grow wide as he springs up. "What the hell…" Gabriella hears a thud as his head hits the headboard and he groans, rubbing the impact spot. "Ow…"

Gabriella giggles. "Time to get up." She says and tries not to stare at his visible pecks that were showing since he was sitting and wasn't wearing a shirt.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asks while still rubbing the back of his head painfully.

"We're going to the beach." She says and smiles. "And you've gotta get up."

Troy looks up at her and shakes his head. "Hell no."

"Hell yes." She responds. "Come on… Chad's already up." She says while glancing back to see that Chad and Taylor were in the hallway, probably flirting like there was no tomorrow.

"Good for him." He says as he leans his head back again. "I'm staying here."

Gabriella rolls her eyes. "No your not."

Troy nods and slips down so he was in a lying position again. "Yea I am. Give me three reasons why I should get up."

Gabriella sighs. "One… It's already nine-thirty, two, you wanna get tan, and three…" She lets a seductive smirk play on her lips as she looks down at him. "You'll get to see me in a bikini."

Troy's eyes light up and he suddenly rips the covers off his body and stands up. "Give me five minutes." He says while Gabriella rolls her eyes and watches as he grabs a black suit that had faint white and orange plaid stripes on them as he slams the bathroom door.

* * *

Gabriella could feel the sun beat down onto her thin body as she opens her eyes gently to become blinded by the light. About three hours ago, the four of them had made their way down to the pool area on the El Mexicano Sueños property, meeting Sharpay and Zeke since Jason was hanging out with some of the other basketball guys. Gabriella had to admit, she felt a little awkward from the fact that Chad and Taylor were holding hands while laying next to her and Zeke and Sharpay were holding theirs next to them. Gabriella glances to see that Troy's body was lying face down on the other side of her. He really was gorgeous, there was absolutely no denying that.

His hand reaches down under the white lawn chair as he grabs something and then turns to her. "Since you're staring at me… I think you should do me."

Gabriella's eyes grow wide. What the hell did he just say? "What?!" She exclaims and Troy laughs a little while holding up a brown bottle and tossing it to her.

"Do my back." He says while Gabriella looks down to see that he had tossed her sun tan lotion. She rolls her eyes and sits up. "Thinking dirty about me huh?"

Gabriella rolls her eyes and leans down over him while placing the white lotion into her hands and then rubbing them together. "Sorry… I'll try to refrain from it." She jokes as he chuckles a little and she places her hands onto his burning back and begins to rub over his skin.

Troy glances back at her and smirks. "I didn't tell you to stop." He states and Gabriella feels her cheeks blush. She rubs her hands over his shoulder muscles and does her best not to tremble at the fact that she was touching him this way. It could have been her imagination, but she swears she hears a moan erupt from his body softly.

When she's finished, she places the bottle down and then walks back over to where her own chair was. Troy gets up and grabs the bottle, squirting it into his hands. "I gotta return the favor."

Gabriella smiles as she suddenly feels his soft hands connect with her shoulders. He massages the substance into her skin and she feels her body tremble softly at his touch. She could hear Troy laugh slightly above her as his hands drop down to her lower back and she feels a familiar throb form in between her legs. When he's finished, he sits on the edge of her chair and Gabriella flips over so she's looking up at him. "What?"

Troy shakes his head for a moment while still looking down at her, smirking. "Nothing." He responds and then grabs her hand, sending sparks straight to her heart. "Come on… I wanna hit the ocean." He pulls her up gently, still keeping their hands connected and she suddenly feels his fingers slip in between her own. Her heart skips about twelve beats as he turns to the rest of the gang. "We're going down there." He points with the hand that wasn't connected with Gabriella's as the four lying on the chairs open their eyes and look at him.

"We're coming too." Sharpay exclaims in a small, bright pink swimsuit with sparkles on it. She grabs Zeke's hand and pulls him up, with the four of them walking to the beach. Gabriella and Sharpay let go of the guy's hands and run to the water, feeling the warm salt connect with their skins, feeling better than a massage.

"I love this!" Gabriella exclaims while feeling a wave crash against her back. Sharpay laughs as she looks back to see the guys walking towards them slowly.

"I'd love this more if they'd hurry their asses up." She says. "Hey slow pokes! Get your asses over here!"

Gabriella looks to see that a couple women with small children glance in Sharpay's direction and give her an evil look. She rolls her eyes and looks back to find that Troy was now standing in front of her with a smirk on his face. Zeke immediately wraps his arms around Sharpay, but Troy and Gabriella both don't seem to notice. "What?" She asks as Troy shakes his head and smirks again.

"Nothing. Just enjoying the view." He says while taking a couple steps forward with Gabriella's face blushing.

The four of them hang out in the ocean for while before Sharpay gets tired and Zeke takes her back to where Chad and Taylor were probably exchanging kisses. Gabriella found herself walking in sync with Troy along the side of the ocean once again, with the sun still high in the sky so she had to squint to see. She could still feel the tingle in her hand as it was laced with Troy's.

"God I love Mexico." He randomly exclaims as they begin to make their way back along the beach to where his hotel was.

Gabriella giggles. "Well I'm glad. See… wouldn't you have been bored if you slept all day in your room?"

Troy chuckles a little and shakes his head, sneaking a glace at her. "No…" He says at first and Gabriella gives him a look. "But this beat it."

A smile falls onto her face as she could start to see the pale yellow building come into view. She sighs, not wanting to go back to the other four. Sure… they were her best friends now, but she wanted to enjoy as much of these moments with Troy as she possibly could. "Good." She says and feels his hand squeeze hers a little.

"So… you doing anything tomorrow?" He asks casually as Gabriella feels her stomach flip a little. She hoped she knew where he was going with this.

"Just camp." She says as he seems to relax a little but still remains tense. "Why?"

His body stops as he turns to her. "I gotta ask you something." He says and Gabriella's eyebrows rise slowly. He seemed to have a nervous look on his face about something, but she couldn't quite grasp what it was.

"Ok…" She says slowly and looks up into his crystal blue eyes that matched the ocean.

He takes a deep breath and then looks down at her. "You wanna… um…" He trails off and takes another deep breath. "I know this really good Mexican place a couple miles from here..." He says and Gabriella tries not to laugh. Basically every restaurant in Mexico was Mexican. "Do you wanna go? Tomorrow night?"

A smile breaks out onto Gabriella's face. Did he just ask her out? Did this just happen? Was she dreaming this? But the look on Troy's face told her otherwise. He just asked her out. "Yea. Um… Yes!" She says with excitement as Troy's face suddenly becomes relaxed and a smile breaks out onto it.

"Great!" He exclaims and Gabriella feels her heart soar. He wraps his muscular arms around her and she smiles into his touch, smelling the crook of his neck finding it her new favorite smell in the world. They hold on for a moment longer then a usual hug would last and then pull apart to look at each other. "What time?"

They both start walking again, their hands laced once again as Gabriella shrugs. "I don't know… seven?" She says as he nods and smirks down at her.

"Ok… I'll pick you up at seven then." He says smirking as Gabriella could feel her heart beat against her chest quickly. She was going on a date with Troy Bolton. This defiantly couldn't get much better than this.

"Sounds good to me." She says with a smile on her face that wouldn't go away any time soon.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry for not updating as frequently as on Time Changes Everything, but now that spring's rolled around I don't have as much time on my hands. Also, I'll be out of town starting on Saturday and not sure if I'm going to be able to update until next week Friday. But anyways, thanks so much for reading! It means so much! 


	11. Unique

A piercing shrill fills the air as Troy puts his hands onto the back of his head, feeling his lungs burn in a way he had never felt before. They were inside the gym, which didn't seem to have air conditioning in, practicing shooting by forming teams of two and making it a race to see who could get to fifty the fastest. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Troy was on the top of his game today. It also didn't take one to figure out that it was because he was going on a date tonight with Gabriella. But unfortunately, since Troy was on the top of his game, that meant Perez was in a worse mood then he usually would be in.

"What Bolton? Too intense for you?" Perez yells as Troy stands strait up and looks into his beady black eyes with disgust, while still panting.

"No sir." Troy responds, trying not to give off any attitude because that would only end up in him getting in more trouble.

"Then we should crank it up a notch shouldn't we?" He says as the guys groan and Troy feels fire shoot down his veins. "We wouldn't want Bolton to feel like he wasn't getting a workout in."

Troy narrows his eyes as the piercing shrill enters his ears. They start up again, with his team passing to a player on the immediate right and taking it down the court. One of the cocky soon to be junior from Alabama, Joey, tries to take a half court shot, and all Troy does is roll his eyes. "Drive it… don't get fancy." He mumbles as another senior from New York turns around and rolls his eyes as well.

"The idiot has been trying to be cocky all week. He thinks if he can get on Perez's good side, next year will be a breeze fro him." He informs Troy.

"Showing off isn't gonna get you on his good side." Troy says, knowing from experience.

It was his turn as he feels the ball get checked into his hands, feeling the bumpy surface press against them. He could hear his team cheering and coaching behind him, but couldn't make out what they were saying. He dribbles the ball down and passes it to the person on his right who drives it forward, then passes it back to Troy who shoots it and watches as it goes in with a swish. His eyes meet with the black beady ones who didn't even seem to notice how great Troy was doing. "Nice shot man." Jason calls and Troy just gives him a nod.

Joey was up again and takes it down, trying to make the half court shot again, but misses once again. Troy looks back at him to see that he was strutting his stuff over to the line again and Troy turns to look at him. "Drive it. You haven't made that shot yet, you're not gonna make it. If you use your speed, it will give you a better shot."

Joey rolls his eyes. "Thanks coach. I'll try to remember that one." He says sarcastically and the other guys turn to glare at him. Everyone in his group liked Troy, so it was a shock that someone actually smart-assed him. Troy rolls his eyes again, telling the other guys not to worry about it.

The freshman Troy had been watching the first week, Tyler, gets the ball and Troy smirks. "Come on Ty… drive it you got this!" He yells support along with the rest of his team as Tyler shoots the ball and makes it in. He runs back, Troy giving him a high five in the process.

Troy feels the ball reach his hands again as he passes to Jason, but not before hearing, "Drive it Bolton, you'll get a better shot." In a mocking voice that he knew came from Joey. Jason passes it back to Troy who watches as it bounces off the rim. He curses and then comes running back, Joey smirking like a little kid on Christmas. "Nice shot." He mocks and Troy could feel the competitive side of him radiate off from him.

Joey gets the ball again and Troy finally couldn't take his competitive side anymore. "Come on… get your ass moving!" Troy yells as Joey takes a shot from the half court line again misses completely. His team looks up at him with a shocked looks on their faces, since Troy was now yelling. He even swears he sees Perez with the corner of his eyes looking at him to see how this scene played out.

"I'd like you see you try that." He says and Troy rolls his eyes.

"I don't have to prove anything to you." He says as he swears he sees Perez have a flicker of a smile on his face. Did that just happen?

"What? Do you not have enough game?" He asks and Troy feels himself being pulled back to moment in the backyard with Aaron and how jealous he was his big brother was better at practically everything. His anger from Perez also bubbles over as he turns back, his piercing blue eyes turning to eyes as he storms forward.

"Fine… Ball!" He yells and runs down the court. He could see his brother's face as he looks up at the net. _Come on Troy… it's easy, just sink it in. _Aaron's words were swimming around his head as he makes the half court shot in with nothing but net. He turns around and smirks to see that Joey, along with everyone else's mouths, was dropped. "That's how it's done." Troy spits out smirking.

He looks up to see that Perez was staring at him with a hard look. Any other coach would have praised his accomplishment, but Perez just looks away with out a word. But Troy smirks to himself. In his book, he not saying anything was a compliment.

* * *

Gabriella sits on her bed and plays with the brown necklace lying on her skin nervously. It was six thirty, and she was already done getting ready. She was wearing a purple long scoop tank top with black knee length spandex and black low heels, remembering Troy telling her she wasn't supposed to be extremely dressed up. Now she was just waiting impatiently, wanting the clock to move faster. "Calm down Brie. It's just dinner."

Gabriella sighs and looks to see that Taylor was sitting on the opposite bed, drying her wet hair since she knew Chad was going to come over as soon as she left. "I know… but it's a first date… an you know… I just want it to go right." She says while scratching her arm nervously.

Taylor smiles at her. "Relax ok? God, it seems like you've never been on a date before." She says and Gabriella looks away thinking that she had been on plenty.

There was a knock on the door and panic suddenly rushes through Gabriella's body. Her head spins around to look at the clock. Six fifty. How the hell could he be this early? Guys were normally late weren't they? She watches as Taylor smiles at her and rolls her eyes, walking to the door. Gabriella hears a click and then the door opening, while she straightens out her top and glances in the mirror to make sure she looked perfect. She could hear something mumbled. Was that Taylor stalling? Did she ask Taylor to stall? She couldn't remember, but she also couldn't remember what her legs felt like until she finally got up off the bed.

Another click and Gabriella's stomach flips in disappointment as she sees another figure walking into the room. She tries not to look pathetically disappointed, when in all actuality, she was. "You're dressed up." The girl says as if it wasn't obvious. Was that a complitment?

"Um… yea." Gabriella says while Amber looks at her up and down, with her hip popped out.

"Well… we're going to get tacos." She says while still eying Gabriella up. "So we'll meet you in the lobby in thrity."

Gabriella flashes Taylor a dangerous look. There was no way she was missing this date for some team dinner. "Er…" Taylor starts. "Brie has plans." She says and Amber tilts her head.

"Oh…so a date huh?" She says while sitting on the edge of Gabriella's bed, without even asking to. "Who's the guy?"

"So… tacos huh?" Taylor says and Gabriella gives her a weird look.

Amber takes her eyes off Gabriella and glances at Taylor for a moment. "Um, yea." She says and then turns back to Gabriella. Her eyes move up to Taylor's who seemed to have a weird, somewhat panicked look in them as she looked back at her. "So who's the guy.

Gabriella glances at Taylor again and then looks down at Amber. "Troy."

Amber's eyes raise immediately. "As in Troy Bolton?"

"How many Troy's do you know?" Gabriella asks, in a rude tone, but she was getting impatient.

Amber looks at her strangely again for a moment. Her green eyes narrow on Gabriella, but then a small smile comes onto her face. "Oh well…" She states while standing and looking her up and down again. "Hope you've had some experience." She says with a smirks. "Have fun." She says as she turns to look at Taylor. "Thirty minutes. Lobby." She says and turns around to walk out the door. Gabriella hears it shut.

"What the hell did she mean by that?" She asks as Taylor rolls her eyes.

"Nothing ok?" She says, even though Gabriella was pretty sure it wasn't nothing. It was never nothing. But she tries to shrug it off. Amber was probably just trying to get into her head, as usual. "Just relax." She says as she stands up and faces Gabriella. "Guess Chad's not coming over."

Gabriella sighs and sits down on the bed again. But no sooner did she sit down on the bed, and then a rapping on the door knob could be heard again. Her body tenses as she looks at Taylor, who gives her a knowing smile and walks to the door again. She glances at the clock again. Seven-o-one. She takes a deep breath and grabs the black purse that was sitting on the night stand, panic spreading through her body once again. She hears footsteps and turns around to face the doorway, to see Troy was standing there in kaki pants, a light blue button up shirt that was rolled at the sleeves with the top three buttons unbuttoned so you could see his white undershirt. "Wow." He says while taking a few steps forward. "You look incredible."

She could feel a blush form on her cheeks as she takes a step forward. "Thanks… It's so we even out when I stand next to you."

Troy chuckles a little. "Thanks. I feel so much better."

Gabriella smiles back at him. "Anytime."

"Get out of here." Taylor says while pushing Gabriella towards Troy, her stumbling in her heels in the process. "Oh, sorry. Anyways, have fun!" She calls as Gabriella leads Troy out the door and watches as it shuts. She feels the air brush against her skin gently as Troy turns to her and they fall into step, walking towards the lobby.

* * *

Gabriella tries her best not to let the diet coke fly out of her nose as she breaks out into laughter. Troy had tears in his eyes as he wipes them with one hand and looks at Gabriella. "Dead serious. The dog almost bit off his leg. But he still managed to get his precious signed Hark Aaron ball back."

She takes a sip of her soda to try to calm her down as Troy finishes telling his story about how he and Chad hit Chad's baseball into an old grouchy lady's yard, almost getting attacked in the process when they were ten years old. The date was going extremely well, both of them enjoying the other's company. Gabriella finally gets her breathing back to normal as she smirks at him. "You guys were stupid."

Troy nods and takes a sip of his soda, Gabriella figuring he wasn't drinking because she wasn't. The lighting was dimmed and the walls were orange, making his tan skin glow. "Yea… he's still stupid." He says and Gabriella rolls her eyes.

"You both are." She retorts and Troy's eyes land on her.

"You're just full of compliments tonight aren't ya?" He says with humor laced in his voice as Gabriella shrugs.

"It's ok… you compliment yourself enough for the both of us." She jokes back and he sighs playfully.

"Guess you're right." He says while their waiter walks by their table. Troy looks up at Gabriella. "Do you want dessert?"

Her stomach was so full from her Mexican food that she was pretty sure it was going to explode. "I'm pretty sure I'd die if I ate anymore." She says and Troy chuckles and runs a hand through his gorgeous brown hair.

"¡Camarero!" He yells as a waiter turns around. Gabriella's eyes grow wide. She didn't know Troy could speak Spanish. "La cuenta, por favor." He asks the waiter for the bill as the waiter grins and turns away. He looks back at Gabriella with a smirk. "What's that look?"

"Since when can you speak Spanish?" She says while Troy shrugs.

"Since this is my fourth time coming down here. You think I might pick up a little bit." He says with playful look in his eyes. "Just basic shit."

Gabriella nods with a smile. "I'm impressed." She says while he plays with the edge of the white table cloth.

"You should be." He says with another smirk. "So are you fluent in it or whatever?"

Gabriella smiles and shakes her head, looking at the way his forehead creased when he was curious. It was adorable. She could stare at the little things forever and never get bored with him. "Nah. We have a huge Mexican family, where THEY all speak it fluently; I just pick up little bits."

Troy nods and looks to see that the waiter had come back with the bill. "Gracais." Troy says as he takes the small black book and opens it up, his eyes growing wide. "Damn… you ordered a lot. I don't think I can pay for this."

Gabriella suddenly feels self conscious as she rubs her arm nervously. "Sorry! You should have told me…"

His eyes look up playfully. "Chill Gab. I'm kidding."

Gabriella sighs in relief and then gives him a nasty glare. "Don't do that to me Bolton!"

Troy laughs as he takes out his wallet and pulls the money out. He stares down at the paper and then pulls out another bill and puts his wallet back into his pocket. His eyes look back up to hers as he smiles. "You ready to go?" Gabriella nods and stands up. Troy walks over to her and takes her hand, lacing theirs together. She couldn't help but feel shivers run through the impact point as they make their way through the restaurant and find themselves outside right on the edge of the beach. "You up for taking a walk?"

Gabriella nods and Troy leads her towards the sand. "Wait." She says and pauses while letting go of Troy's hand to grab the back of each strap of her heels and pulls them off. She feels the cool sand connect with her feet as she takes a couple strides forward to connect their hands again. "Much better."

They start walking down the beach, towards where Gabriella knew their hotels were a mile and a half away. They could have walked to the restaurant, but she assumed Troy didn't want to wear her out at first. She could see the moon was shining perfectly, since it was rounding on 9:30 PM, and the sun had set already. "How bad to heels hurt?"

Gabriella couldn't help but let a laugh escape her throat at the stupid question. She couldn't believe he just asked that. "Like hell… but they're ok once you get used to them. I've been dancing in them since I was little, so they aren't that bad." She pauses and looks back up at him. "Why the hell did you just ask me that?"

Troy shrugs. "I don't know… I've always wondered."

Gabriella gives him a skeptical look and shakes her head playfully. "You have a problem."

Troy playfully glares at her. "You know what? Maybe I'll just take you home. All you can do tonight is make fun of me." He says and Gabriella takes her other arm and wraps it around the same one that she was holding.

"You know I'm kidding Troy. Don't be an ass." She says and Troy smirks. "I'm sorry."

Troy smirks down at her. "You're lucky you're hot." He compliments her and Gabriella feels a blush erupt on her face. "Cuz otherwise I wouldn't forgive you."

Gabriella rolls her eyes as she feels the warm salt water dance around her feet. She closes her eyes to the feeling of peace. No one was out on the beach beside them. There was nothing else to think about beside the guy she was standing next to. But he was all she'd be able to think about anyways.

They walk a little further in a comfortable silence. It wasn't awkward; she wasn't searching for things to say. It was just… nice. The lights from the different hotels were glowing light fireflies while she could hear soft Mexican music from different hotels. It was extremely peaceful. "So why dance?"

Gabriella looks up at him to see that his crystal blue eyes were boring down into hers. She raises an eyebrow and looks at him curiously. "What?"

Troy shrugs his shoulders as he looks at the ground for a moment. "Why dancing? There are so many other things you could do. So why the hell did you choose dancing?"

She was taking aback by this question. No one ever asked her why she did it. They just asked how long she did it for. But why? Never. A small smile plays on her face as she sighs and looks straight ahead of her. "I guess it's the feeling… you know? The feeling that you can fly across the stage. The feeling of the music and passion pumping through your veins. When you nail a routine that is nearly impossible, it's the best feeling in the world. It's like… happiness spreads through out your body. I do it to be happy." She says simply and Troy smirks down at her.

"You look like your going to orgasm right now." He says and Gabriella rolls her eyes.

"I guess what I love." She says and Troy looks down at the sand again. "So why basketball?"

Troy rolls his eyes and turns to her. "It's fun."

Gabriella hits his arm playfully. "Come on… I just spilled out my soul. It's your turn."

Troy nods and then looks at the ground again. "Fine. I don't know. I love competition." He says plainly and Gabriella could see him scuffle his feet a little. "I've grown up around it. My dad's the coach you know? And my br…" He starts, but then shakes his head to stop. "I'm good at it too. It chills me out." He says as Gabriella nods in understanding.

"I guess dancing's like that too. If I've had a rough day, it's the only thing that calms me down." She explains and Troy nods. She looks out into the ocean to see the bright white orb was reflected in the midnight blue water. She hadn't even realized that they had both stopped and were now facing each other. "It really is beautiful."

Troy smiles and looks down at her. "You're really beautiful."

Gabriella rolls her eyes. "Cliché Bolton. How many girls have you used that on?" She asks and Troy shakes his head.

"Not many." He says as he looks down into her brown orbs. Gabriella finds herself getting lost in his own piercing blue. "You're not like them." He says while Gabriella could see his head tilt a little.

"I guess I'm unique." She whispers as she could feel his breath on her face. Her heart was pounding against her chest as he lips began to tingle in anticipation.

"I love it." He whispers back as she feels her eye lids close. A suddenly feeling of warmth covers her lips as they connect together. She feels fireworks shoot through her body from her mouth as a soft hand reaches up and cups the side of her face. What she had been waiting for since El Calor was suddenly a reality as she could feel her lower body connect with his as his arm was around her lower back. They disconnect after a minute for air as Troy looks down at her with lust in his eyes.

"Wow." Was the only thing that could come out of her mouth as she looks back up at him to see he was leaning down again. Their lips connect again for a moment before he breaks them apart and beams down at her.

"And I loved that." He says which makes Gabriella giggle a little as his comments.

"You need to get new lines." She says softly and Troy smirks down at her and shrugs.

"They seem to be working." He says while a flush of red erupts on her cheeks.

After another incredible kiss, they begin to walk again, towards Gabriella's hotel. Once there, they get in through the back doors and climb up the stairs. It was surprising that it was going on 10:30 PM, neither one of them wanting to leave, but knowing they had to.

Gabriella turns around while leaning her back up against the white door and smiles at him. "Well this was fun." She says and Troy nods, putting a hand above one of her shoulders and leaning towards her. "But I gotta get to bed."

"Alright." He says and leans down. Gabriella feels the shocks run through her body again as they kiss for a final time and then he lets go and stares into her eyes. "I'll call you tomorrow."

The smile on Gabriella's face grows larger as she nods. "Alright. 'Night Troy."

Troy smiles back at her and gives her a small wave. "'Night Gab."

She watches as he turns around and walks towards the stairs again and doesn't turn around until her leaves her sight. A sigh erupts on her throat as she thinks about how incredible the night turned out, and how depressed she was that it just ended.

* * *

**A/N: **This will probably be the last chapter before I leave. So expect an update next Thursday or Friday. Unless I can get at a computer before then, but don't count on it. Anyways, thanks so much for reading! I hope you liked this chapter! 


	12. Salsa

_Gabriella felt the heavy stage make up start to droop a little as the sweat started to wipe it off. She was holding a gold object that came up to about her knee with a dancer standing on the top of it. Her eyes scan and find a familiar pair. She runs over and jumps up into her mother's arms. "First place Mom!" She exclaims while jumping up and down in her mom's arms. She felt like she was on cloud nine, and nothing would tear her down._

_"I'm so proud of you honey." Her mom says while kissing her forehead. "You danced incredible." _

_Gabriella beams as she stares back at her mother. The ten year old's eyes scan the crowd looking for another familiar pair of brown orbs, but she found herself unsuccessful. She looks up at her mother with a questioning look. "Where's dad?" She asks even though she knew the answer to that question. It was obvious, and her mother's body stiffens up a little as she asks._

_"Working... again." She says and Gabriella could feel the tone of bitterness laced with her voice. It was all her dad was doing lately, working. But as the CEO of an insurance company, that was all he could do. Even at ten, Gabriella knew it was hard for him to balance work and family, but if there was ever a choice, work would always win, no questions asked. Gabriella hated it._

_"So he didn't come at all?" Gabriella asks with a depressed look on her face as her mother takes a deep breath and sighs._

_"Don't worry about it sweety. You got first place!" She says and puts on a fake smile for her daughter, but Gabriella could see right through it. "How do you want to celebrate?"_

_"Can we go? I want to get food!" Gabriella exclaims and Mrs. Montez nods._

_"Sure. We'll stop at Burger King or something on the way home." She says as she suddenly hears a small yelp._

_Gabriella suddenly sees a very petite blonde woman running towards her as she picks Gabriella's small body up and spins her around. "That's the best I've ever seen you dance!" She exclaims and Gabriella feels her body being put back to the ground as she smiles up at her coach. "Way to go kiddo."_

_"Thanks Miss Sandy!" She exclaims as she glances to the side, seeing the other girls carrying their smaller trophies than Gabriella's._

_"I'm so proud of you!" Miss Sandy says while giving Gabriella another bone crushing squeeze and then looks at her mom. "And there was a scout from Rimial Company tonight." She says with a smile that seemed impossible to wipe off. Gabriella's mother looks ecstatic while Gabriella didn't comprehend what the coach was saying. All she cared about at that moment was the fact her stomach was roaring, begging for food._

_"Mom! Can we go? I wanna get a cheeseburger!" She complains while her mother waves her hand as if to shut her up._

_"Rimial? Oh my God!" She exclaims while covering her mouth with her hand in shock. "Did you talk to them? Did they see Ella? What did they say?" Her mom lets out as Gabriella groans angrily._

_Miss Sandy smiles at the oldest Montez woman. "They loved Gabs' performance."_

_Mrs. Montez covers her mouth again and looks down at Gabriella, who still had her arms crossed. She was starving and she just wanted something to eat! Nothing was processing of what the older women were saying. "Oh my God." Mrs. Montez says again while Gabriella looks up at her mom._

_"Can we PLEASE go?" Gabriella begs and Mrs Montez waves her hand as if telling her to shut up again._

_"Well... are we going to hear from them? Is there anyway she can get in? Oh my God Rimial?" Her mom blabbers as Gabriella gets even more irritated._

_"They said they're going to keep watching her. But they're defiantly interested. If she made the company... do you know how good those girls are?" Miss. Sandy asks as Gabriella feels her stomach practically start to eat away at her skin she was so hungry._

_"I know... and the studio would be close too. Only a half an hour drive." She says with a look on her face that Gabriella knew meant she was excited about something. That look wasn't coming onto her face that often anymore, especially around her father._

_"They don't take girls under thirteen, but maybe she'll be an exception." Miss Sandy states._

_"Mom!" Gabriella whines one more time as both women look down at her._

_"We'll talk later alright Maria?" She says and then turns to Gabriella. "And I'm so proud of you. See you at rehearsal on Monday." She says with a wave as the Montez women turn around and walk the other way._

_"I suppose I should call your father... not that it matters." Mrs. Montez says the last part under her breath, but Gabriella wasn't deaf to hear it. Her mom puts her cell phone up to her ear and pauses for awhile. "Hi... I just wanted to let you know your daughter took first, but if you would have showed up you would have known that." She says with anger and slams the phone shut, then turns back to Gabriella. "So... Burger King?" _

_Gabriella looks up at her mom to see a tear was formed in her eye. But she quickly wipes it away and tries to smile down at her daughter. "Yea." Gabriella says slowly, not really sure what to do or say._

_Her mom puts on a fake smile and puts her arm around Gabriella's small shoulder. "Then Burger King it is." _

"So... remind me again how the hell you got me to come?" Troy asks as he leans towards the almost black hair to take in her scent as he feels the petite girl that was holding his hand to smell her coconut shampoo. A scent that he found was he new favorite in the world.

Gabriella rolls her gorgeous brown eyes. "Because... everyone else is here. And it's dancing. Remember... the thing I love?" She says while fixing a part of her tight curls as Troy couldn't hep but smile at how amazing she looked in her strapless white dress that reached right above the knee and white heels.

They were standing on the edge of the beach with tiki torches surrounding them. further up on the sand was a giant platform with couples dancing together. Not grinding, dancing. The dance team was told about one of the other teams that another hotel was hosting a dance party. Salsa, Tango, anything. Troy was pretty sure that Gabriella was in heaven right now, because her eyes were lit up like the moon that was shining down on them and she had this smile on her face that wouldn't seem to be able to be wiped away. 

It had been a week since their first date, and the two had been practically inseparable since then. Troy hadn't officially asked her out or anything, but they were a couple. Both of them couldn't get enough of each other. Troy hadn't felt this way about a girl in the longest time. He couldn't actually remember a time he fell this hard for someone, but man. It felt good.

Troy unlaces their hands and drapes his arm around her shoulders as he watches a blonde and her boyfriend run to the two who were on the side, watching some of the other people move. "Wow... are you ok?" Sharpay asks while still hanging onto Zeke's hand as though her life depended on it.

Gabriella looks from left to right as Troy feels a soft breeze play with the back of his neck. "Yea... why wouldn't I be?"

Sharpay rolls her eyes as if the answer was obvious. "Because I think this is the longest I've ever seen you off a dance floor. Seriously... are you sick or something?"

A gorgeous smile erupts from Gabriella's mouth as Troy couldn't help but feel one of his own fall onto his lips. That was the effect Gabriella had on him. When she was happy or excited, so was he."No Shar, I'm not sick." She responds and looks up, beaming at Troy. "So where's Tay and Chad?" She asks as she scrunches her hair a little, even though Troy thought it looked perfect.

Sharpay rolls her eyes. "They left about ten minutes ago. They've only been dating a week and they seriously can't stop making out." Troy laughs a little. He had been given the dirty details of their make out sessions last night, and Sharpay was right. It hadn't gotten further then that, but after so long of waiting for each other, it didn't seem that weird that they were doing that this early in their relationship. Although, he was pretty sure if he started making out with Gabriella, it wouldn't be weird either.

A sudden feeling of dryness hits Troy's throat as he looks down at Gabriella. "I'm gonna go get something to drink, you want anything?"

Gabriella looks at him for a moment, then shakes her head. "Just don't get lost." She says while nudging her hip into his as he smirks at her.

"I'll go with you." Zeke responds as Troy kisses the top of Gabriella's head and then the two guys make their way up the beach and onto the foreign hotel grounds to where they knew the bar was. "So what's with you and Gabs?" Zeke asks and Troy raises his eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean?" Troy asks while they stop in front of the bar and the fat bartender looks at them.

"I'll have a Corona." Zeke says and then turns back to Troy. "Are you guys together?"

"Make that two." Troy says and smirks when the bartender doesn't ask for an ID. He turns back to Zeke and shrugs his shoulders lightly while tapping his hand on the edge of the counter. "We're just having fun." Troy says, even though he wanted so much more then to just have fun with Gabriella. So much more. "How's Shar?"

Troy watches as Zeke looks away from Troy and shrugs. "She's alright." He says and Troy narrows his eyebrows while putting the bottle to his mouth and taking a sip.

"Just alright?" He asks as Zeke nods and looks at Troy again, playing with his hands on the neck of the beer bottle.

"Yea... I don't know... It's hard to explain." Zeke says while Troy's eyes travel over to where Sharpay was now dancing with Will and Gabriella was talking with Melissa and Angie on the side. 

"Go for it." Troy says while twisting the bottle in his hand.

Zeke sighs. "In public, everything's great. But alone? Not so great." He says and Troy feels his eyebrow cock.

"What... you mean like in bed?" He asks while Zeke turns a bright shade of red. "Ok... that answers that."

"When we first started doing it, it was great. Now? It seems like she's not always there. Like she's wishing something else would happen. Maybe I'm not satisfying her needs or something." Zeke sighs and takes a sip of his beer. "I just don't wanna loose her. She's great, and I don't want her to break it off cuz she's bored or something."

Troy nods, understanding how much pressure that must have put on him. Although Troy wouldn't know first hand, since he had never had consent sex with one girl since he hadn't had a girlfriend since freshman year. "Did she tell you she was bored?" He asks as he looks to the side to see a couple dancers smiling and blushing while looking at him. Troy gives them a smirk back and then turns to one of his best friends. 

Zeke shakes his head. "No." Troy takes another sip of his beer.

"Then maybe she's not. Just... spice it up a little. You know? Do on her balcony or something." Troy says as Zeke rolls his eyes.

"Leave it to you to come up with the kinkiest things." He says as Troy smirks.

"That's nothing. I could up with worse." He says while feeling his eyes reflexively land on the brunette that was laughing at something Angie just said. A smile plays on his lips as he couldn't help but think about what it would feel like to touch her, lick her, be inside her. But he just shakes his head and takes one last sip of beer before putting the empty bottle down and turning to Zeke. "But I gotta go take care of something. Catch ya later?" He asks while doing the manly guy handshake that every male seemed to know.

"Yea. See ya Troy." He says as Troy begins to make his way across the pool and down onto the sand again. He walks over at an angle and comes up behind Gabriella while she was in midsentance while wrapping his arms around her neck and kissing her cheek. "Hey."

Angie and Melissa give them slightly jealous looks for a moment before Gabriella turns around and smiling. "Damn it, I thought you would get lost. Too bad."

"Funny." Troy says sarcastically as he looks at the other girls. "Hey ladies."

"Hey Troy." Angie greets him as Melissa just smiles at him. Troy could see Gabriella's smile falter a little, but hey he was just trying to be a nice guy.

"You look great." Melissa says as Troy glances down to remember he was wearing a red polo with khaki shorts underneith.

"Er... thanks." He says awkwardly, but glancing to see that Gabriella was smiling up at him.

"She's right." She says while Troy smirks at her.

"So..." He says and glances up to see the people on the dance floor were salsaing. A smirk falls onto his face as he figures it was time to let Gabriella in on one of his many secrets. "You wanna show off your dancing?"

Gabriella's eyes grow wide with excitement for a moment before she glances at the dancefloor and beams back at him. "Your serious?" She asks as Troy smirks and holds out his hand. "It's not grinding Troy."

Troy could feel a smile playing on his face. "I know... but I can at least try can't I?" He asks as Gabriella grabs his hand and stands up from the bench she was sitting on and laces their fingers together.

"I see you guys later." She says to Angie and Melissa, who both had slightly jealous looks on their faces. Gabriella eagerly leads Troy out to the dance floor, where three other couples were already dancing, two including Zeke and Sharpay, along with Will and Amber. "We'll take this slow alright?"

Troy spins Gabriella into his chest and grabs her waist while clutching her hand, watching with amusement as her eyes grow slightly wide in surprise. "I can keep up."

Their steps fall into place with the other three as Troy moves his feet perfectly while he knew Zeke and Will were stumbling a little. It was almost as amusing as seeing Gabriella's shocked look on her perfect features as Troy dips her gently while her hand traces the outline of his jaw as he pulls her back up. "Shit..." She mumbles as Troy spins her again to the beat of the Latino music. Their hips sway together as Troy keeps up with Gabriella's perfect salsa. "I didn't know you could salsa... or dance."

Troy smirks as he dips her again. "There's a lot you don't know about me Gabi." He says as Gabriella gives him a playful smirk.

"Which is surprising considering how cocky you are." She says as Troy's jaw drops playfully.

"Ouch, that hurt." He says as he spins her out of his arms for a moment. She then turns around and throws hers back around his neck and brings her leg up so it wraps around his. Troy could feel their pelvises rubbing together and could feel his member twitch a little.

After dancing for another ten minutes, people around the edges clap as Troy and Gabriella leave the platform and walk back out onto the grass. He picks her up in his arms and feels at home as she squeezes hers around his neck and giggles. He sets her down after a moment and lightly kisses her lips. Her hand slaps his chest a little as she shakes her head at him. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me you could dance?"

Troy's thumbs draw small circles onto her back as he shrugs. "You never asked." He says as she rolls her eyes.

"Since when?" She asks as Troy shrugs his shoulders again.

"I've been coming down to this camp with the dance team since I was a freshman. Don't you think I'd pick up on it a bit?" It was true, Troy learned to salsa, tango, and break dance since he first came down here his freshman year. Gabriella beams up at him as she grabs his hands that were on her lower back and plays with his fingers, sending shivers over his body.

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me." She says as Troy shrugs and disconnects one of their hands.

"Shit happens, you'll get over it." He says as Gabriella rolls her eyes. He then leads her over to a picnic table that was set up around the dance floor and sits on the top. Gabriella sits down next to him and they both watch as Will and Amber continue to dance, while they could see Sharpay and Zeke leaving the floor and heading off somewhere in the distance.

Troy glances over to see Gabriella watching Amber's footwork intently. He didn't even have to be in rehearsals to know that Gabriella and Amber probably had a rivalry going on, even if they didn't know it. Both were incredibly good dancers, but from what he saw, he was pretty sure Gabriella was better. "I've never seen anyone salsa like that."

He sighs as his eyes look to where Gabriella's were locked on and shrugs. "You're just as good." He says and Gabriella's face falls into a small smile. "Plus yours is all talent."

For the first time since they sat down, Gabriella's brown orbs rip away from Amber as she looks into Troy's piercing blue eyes. "What do you mean?"

Troy shrugs as he looks ahead and stares at Amber's perfectly formed legs for a moment, subconsciously knowing that Gabriella's were so much better. "Her parents hired a Russian dancer to teach her when she was four. She and Sharpay, who were best friends until high school started, took lessons from her since they both had a shit load of money." He explains as Gabriella looks at him curiously.

"Amber and Shar were best friends? What happened?" She asks as Troy glances back at her and shrugs.

"I don't know for sure." He lies completely, looking away from her and staring at the ground for a moment. Him being able to dance was a secret that he could let out tonight. But this secret? It would have to be kept secret. "They kinda stopped being best friends when Shar and Tay became close freshman year. But they got into an argument last summer." He says while continuing to not look at Gabriella, not able to face her.

"What was the argument about?" Gabriella asks the question that Troy was so desperately trying to avoid, so he just shrugs and sighs as he looks down at her.

"I'm not sure..." He lies, still refusing to make eye contact with her.

A silence erupts between the two as the watch the dancers for awhile before Gabriella turns to him. "Troy? What are we?"

Troy feels his throat close up as she had just been reading what his mind was thinking about for the past week. He knew what he wanted to be with her, but would she want to be the same thing back? "Well..." Troy tries to joke his was out of his nervousness. "You're a girl and I'm a guy..."

Gabriella rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean." She says as she seemed to have the same nervous face on that Troy had.

Troy looks down at their hands that were laced together, finding them so much easier to look at then up into her face. "Um... well..."

He could feel Gabriella take in a deep breath beside him. Was she just as nervous as he was? That meant she wanted the same answer. "I mean... cuz we've been like this.." She lifts up their hands and Troy finally looks back up into her gorgeous brown eyes. "For a week. So what are we?"

Troy swallows the lump in his throat as he gives her a weak smile. "We could be friends, friends with benefits, dating... or a couple. Take your pick."

He couldn't breathe as he watches her face tense up a little. "Um... what do you want?" She asks as Troy takes a deep breath and smiles down at her.

"How 'bout this. If someone asks me, I'll say I have a girlfriend." He says slowly, nervous for Gabriella's reaction.

Her lips curve into a perfect smile as she throws her arms around his neck and kisses him soundlessly. Troy feels sparks fly across his entire body as his hand cups the side of her face to pull her closer to him. The kiss was slow as Troy nibbles on her lips gently until she finally pulls away with her eyes lit up. "Sounds great to me." She says with a smile on her face that Troy never wanted to be wiped away. 

* * *

**A/N: **So I lied. I found a computer but am super busy so I probably won't post again until the time I said I would origionally be posting. But since you guys have been so great, I decided to put this up. Anyways, thanks so much for reading and reviewing! You guys are amazing! 


	13. Marcus

"Come on girls! You're slower then my Abuela!" Camilla yells as the music shakes the walls. "Again! Five, six, seven, eight!"

Gabriella leaps and folds down into a position before rolling over and landing in a splits. Camilla was in a particularly bad mood this morning and all it seemed she could do was scream at the girls. Which was unfortunate because most of the girls were exhausted from the dance party last night. Even though dancing, Gabriella could feel a smile form on her face thinking about what had occurred and that she was now no longer single. Her body finally lands with her arms up as Camilla crosses her arms and has a hard lock on her jaw. This wasn't good. "Uh oh." Gabriella swears she hears someone say as Camilla taps her foot onto the hardwood.

"Are you ladies all hung over?" She asks as she takes a step forward and begins to weave her way in and out of the lines that had formed. No one moved, Gabriella was pretty sure that everyone was too terrified to move. "Because you sure as hell look like it." She says with her Hispanic accent coming in fully. Gabriella arches her back a little as she could feel her arms starting to loose the blood in them as Camilla glances over her, then moves on. "Maybe you all should take your minds off the boys who are screwing you and focus on dancing here and now." She says as Gabriella looks out the corner of her eye to see that people were struggling to hold their poses. "You were sent here to wok on dancing. Not party every night. Because you look like shit today." She says and Gabriella realizes that almost every one of the girls there was at the dance party last night. It must have been why everyone was so stiff and slow. "Whitman, Evans, Montez, show these girls how this routine should really go."

Gabriella feels her throat close up as her head immediately whips around to see that Amber was staring back at her. All of the other girls sigh in relief as they walk over to the front of the studio and sit down on the floor. Gabriella finally puts her arms down and feels the blood rush back into them as her throat dries up while walking towards the other two girls, meeting in the middle. "I can't do this." Sharpay whispers to Gabriella who swears she sees Amber smirk a little. Why did they hate each other so much? After Troy didn't know, Gabriella wanted to find out desperately.

"Just don't forget the fan after the ball change." Gabriella whispers in the corner of her mouth as Sharpay's face flashes realization.

"Oh yea." She whispers as Gabriella looks down to see that Taylor was giving them encouraging smiles as Gabriella holds her first pose and stares into the mirror to see her figure bending at an angle. Her mind quickly flashbacks to Troy's beaming face last night as her own smirks plays on her lips.

"Ready? Five, six, seven, eight..." Camilla calls out while clapping and Gabriella suddenly feels her body move. Her feet were moving to Camilla's beat perfectly. She quickly glances to the side to catch Sharpay mess up for a second, before picking it back up and finishing it out. Gabriella lands again with her arms up as she pants slightly and glances at the small Mexican woman. She still had her arms crossed but her face wasn't as hard as the time before. "It's not complete shit. Evans, you have to pick up it." She directs to Sharpay who had a slight pout on her face as Gabriella glances to see Amber smirking slightly.

Another hour goes by of repetition until Gabriella finds herself picking up her purple gym bag with Taylor, Melissa, Sharpay, and Angie at her side. They walk out the studio doors and make their way outside. As soon as the hazy sun hits their faces, Sharpay lets out a high pitched scream that Gabriella has to cover her ears for. "I hate her! I'm sorry we're not all like her who has no fucking life what so ever. I'm sorry it wasn't perfect!" Sharpay yells as Angie tries to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Shar... just try to calm down ok?" She says but all Sharpay does it let out a huff and Gabriella swears she sees fire shoot out of her ears. They start making their way towards the hotel since it was less then two miles away and they didn't want to pay for a cab everyday. "Camilla's a hard ass. We all know that."

"Did you see Amber too? Strutting her stuff like she's the best. Guess what? Brie could dance fucking circles around her." Gabriella's face flushes at the comment, but finds that this was the perfect time to ask about the question that was on her mind ever since last night when she was with Troy.

"You really hate her don't you?" She leads in as Sharpay raises her eyebrows.

"I don't know what planet you've been living on for the past three weeks, but I can't stand her." She says as Gabriella takes a deep breath in. 

"Why?" She asks as Sharpay looks at her. Gabriella doesn't even notice Taylor tense up beside her.

"She fucking s..."

"So you never told me how Troy asked you out last night. Since we were rushed out of the hotel this morning." Taylor says while Gabriella was still staring at Sharpay. The blonde's face pales as she makes eye contact with the brown orbs staring back. Gabriella had told Taylor and Sharpay briefly this morning, on their way to the studio but couldn't talk long.

"Um... he just did." Gabriella says while glancing a curious look at Taylor and bringing her bag up again so it wasn't cutting the circulation in her arm. "So why?"

Sharpay's face quickly recovers from shock as she grabs a pair of white sunglasses that were sitting on her head and puts them on. "Oh... you know, the usual, girls were best friends in elementary and middle school, girls enter high school, and one of them turns into a fucking bitchy slut, so the other can't stand her anymore." She says with a wave of her hand as if it was no big deal. But Gabriella wasn't stupid. Troy said there was an argument, but Gabriella didn't want to push the issue and get on her bad side.

Melissa shrugs. "She can be a pain in the ass... but she's just hard to read. One minute she's a bitch to you, the next she's nice. I swear she's bipolar." She says while they continue to walk down the street. "So... I heard right? Troy Bolton has a girlfriend now?"

Gabriella feels a blush grow on her face as she nods. "Yea." She says somewhat shyly as a smile forms to her face when she sees those perfect blue eyes in her head.

"Wow! Congratulations." Melissa says and Gabriella feels herself smile back.

"Who would've known?" Angie says as Gabriella could pick up the slightly jealous look in her eyes. "It's been since... freshman year?"

Gabriella nods, remembering Troy tell her this a week ago when they were just hanging out by themselves. She had avoided her past when it came to relationships, not really wanting to get into the whole Collin thing with him. Well, at least not yet. "Wow... you must have really some charm or something him." Melissa says as Taylor smiles and shakes her head.

"It's different then the other girls." She says as Gabriella raises an eyebrow.

"How?" She asks as Sharpay finally turns to her.

"Unlike the other girls he fucks around with..." She says with a small smile playing on her lips. "Troy actually likes you." Gabriella feels her own mouth beam suddenly as Sharpay looks forward again. "Hurry up, I'm going to dinner with Zeke tonight and I wanna look fabulous."

* * *

"Ok... yes Mom, he's a nice guy." Gabriella says into her cell phone as she looks at Taylor and rolls her eyes while moving her hand in a talking motion. She had just gotten done telling her mother she now had a boyfriend, who was in shock at first, but now she seemed excited for her daughter. "I promise ok? But I have to go, Tay and I have to be somewhere." She lies and then smiles when she hears her mother's goodbye. "I love you too. Bye Mom."

Gabriella hits the end button on her phone and throws it on her bed while falling down onto it, letting her eyes close. It had been two hours since camp had ended and all she was wearing was a pair of white booty shorts and her orange and white swimsuit top. "So... was she happy?" Taylor's voice fills her ears as Gabriella looks to the side and opens her eyes while nodding.

"Yea... but she thinks three weeks is a little fast. Plus she gave me the 'Just because you're in Mexico with no adult supervision, doesn't mean you should let him take advantage of you' speech." She says with a sigh.

Taylor rolls her eyes and smiles. "It's not like you wouldn't want it." She mumbles as Gabriella's mouth drops.

"Tay!" She exclaims as Taylor smiles at her and puts her hands up in defense.

"Kidding! I'm totally kidding." Her best friend says and smiles at her. Gabriella couldn't help but feel the heat rush to her face at the thought of doing anything like that with Troy. She watches as Taylor gets up off her own bed and walks over to stacked boxes in the corner sitting next to a built in mini refrigerator with a microwave sitting on the top. The girls had gone to a local grocery store last week, figuring that eating out every day would probably be really bad for their dancing. "So... what do you want for dinner? Easy Mac... or I think we still have bread..." 

"What was the argument between Sharpay and Amber?" Gabriella asks randomly as Taylor's head pops up and looks at her. Her face was slightly pale as she begins to play with the plastic bag holding their food.

"How'd you know there was an argument?" She asks in a defensive way that makes Gabriella look at her curiously.

"Troy told me last night..." She says slowly while Taylor's eyes pop out of their sockets.

"Troy told you? What else did he tell you?" She asks in the same accusing tone and Gabriella looks at her nervously.

"That's it... he said he didn't know what it was about." She says while she swears she sees a flicker of an eye roll for the moment, but then it goes away.

"It was stupid and not important." Taylor says with a wave of her hand, but Gabriella knows she was hiding something. What was this huge secret? "You know Shar, she's just a big drama queen and Amber's not much better. Don't worry about it." She says while holding up a blue and yellow box. "I'm craving Easy Mac."

There was a rap on the door and Gabriella lazily looks over towards it. "You wanna get that?" She asks since her legs were still hanging off the side of the bed while lying down. "It's probably Shar asking what shoes match." She says while feeling her eyes close. Why would no one give her a straight answer when it came to this?

She hears the door open and a sudden "Hey!" come from Taylor. Then she hears a moment of silence and suddenly realizes it had to have been Chad. She waits a couple moments before hearing a "How are you?" Come from her best friend and then suddenly feels a body weight on her. Sparks fly from all of her impact points as she suddenly feels two soft lips connect with her own.

When her eyes open as their lips part, she finds herself staring up into a pair of piercing blue ones. A smile erupts on her face as she looks to see that Troy was leaning over her with his elbows propped up on the bed so he wouldn't crush her. "Hey!" She exclaims as Troy shows his bright white teeth while beaming down at her.

"Hey yourself." He says while places another kiss onto her lips and Gabriella feels sparks shoot through her nerves, giving her tingling sensations everywhere. But she then hears a cough and they both disconnect their lips to see that Chad and Taylor were both smiling at them with amused looks plastered on their faces.

"You guys have been going out for less then twenty-four hours and both of you are hornier then rabbits." Chad says while Troy and Gabriella both sit up and both of them roll their eyes.

"You two are ones to talk." Troy says while draping an arm around Gabriella's shoulders. "It's been a little more than a week and you can't get your tongue out of her mouth." 

Taylor's face turns bright red as Gabriella giggles and feels Troy pull her body closer to him. "So how was camp?" Gabriella asks as Troy shrugs and looks at Chad.

"Alright." He says while Chad looks at the two girls.

"How was dancing?" He asks while sitting on the opposite bed and pulling Taylor down onto his lap.

"It sucked. I swear Camilla wanted to kill us today." Taylor says while Gabriella rolls her eyes, but deep down agrees.

"Don't complain. At least she's not out to get you because you could run fucking circles around the rest of the guys." Troy says while Gabriella rolls her eyes again.

"Perez still giving you shit?" She asks while feeling Troy's hand strokes her arm up and down.

"Yea." Troy says while Chad sighs. "Whatever… he can fuck himself."

Chad nods and turns to the girl on his lap. "So… I'm hungry." He says while Gabriella laughs.

"What a surprise." She says.

"Who cares?" Chad says and stands up, making Taylor fall off his lap. "You wanna get something to eat?"

Gabriella looks up at Taylor who sighs. "I guess no Easy Mac then."

Gabriella laughs as she turns to Troy. "You guys go ahead… I really don't wanna go anywhere tonight." She says while Troy scrunches his eyebrows at her. Every teenager would probably live to go out to eat every night, but Gabriella just wanted something simple. And she didn't want to have to wait an hour to actually get it.

"Come on Brie!" Taylor says.

"What? You finally decided to be health conscious or something?" Chad asks while Gabriella could see his hand lace with Taylor's.

"I'm just not in the mood." She says honestly and feels Troy's arm unwrap around her shoulder and lace hands with her.

"I'll stay with her. You guys go." He says while standing up, bringing Gabriella with him.

"You sure?" Chad asks as Troy nods. "Ok man, see ya." He says while doing the guy handshake that everyone seemed to know but girls. Gabriella waves at the two. "Bye Brie!"

They walk out the door and Troy turns towards her. "Finally…" He says while wrapping his arms around her waist and placing his lips onto hers. Gabriella smiles up as her own arms wrap around his neck. He gently squeezes her lips while she could feel his thumbs drawing circles on her lower back, sending her shivers. They finally part and he leans his head up against hers. "I should have never told him I was coming over." He says while Gabriella smiles up at him.

"Well… now we got Taylor out too." She says while feels him place a small kiss onto her jaw.

"Who knew he could be useful." Troy mumbles while Gabriella could see a dirty look was playing in his eyes. It was a look that every guy seemed to have, a look that reminded her so much of the way Collin used to look at her.

"Um… I'm hungry." She says while slipping out of Troy's grasp. It wasn't that she didn't want to do anything with Troy. Actually, it took her and Collin two weeks to actually start kissing. With Troy, it seemed a lot easier. While she walks over to the boxes of food and the microwave, she realizes what was scaring her the most had to be the fact of how fast she was actually falling for Troy.

She feels two arms slip around her waist as she bends down to grab the plastic bag holding food. "What do you have?"

A smile plays on her lips as she feels his lips connect with her neck lightly. "Um… Easy Mac, pop tarts, TV dinners, peanut butter…"

"We're having peanut butter and jelly." He says while he reaches in front of her and grabs the wheat bread and the two jars. Gabriella turns around in his arms and raises her eyebrows. 

"Peanut better and jelly?" She asks while he was smiling like a little kid. "I haven't had that since… I was like nine."

Troy continues to beam at her while he stands up. "Well… I make the best. Just ask Chad…" He says cockily as Gabriella rolls her eyes. 

"Whatever you say." She says as he grabs a plastic knife and takes out four slices of bread. Gabriella throws on a long grey beater and walks over to the window, watching as the waves crash against the sand while Troy was making their dinner. She found it funny that even though he was hot, cocky, and sexy; he still had this little kid inside him.

Gabriella turns around after a few minutes to see that Troy was beaming at her. "Come on." He says while holding out his free hand that wasn't carrying a plastic bag. "We're going down there."

Gabriella smiles and grabs his hand while making sure she had a room key in the other one. They both walk out the door and down the stairs until the get into the lobby. But Gabriella's stomach turns as she sees a familiar brunette standing down there with what looked like a local guy in a short and low cut red dress. She really didn't want to have to deal with her right now but sighs as she sees the green eyes lock on her brown.

She takes long strides in her red high heels with the guy at her heels. "Troy, Gabriella." She says as a greeting and Gabriella watches as Troy looks at the girl nervously. His body tenses up a little, maybe at the fact that this was probably the first time the three of them had been together with out anyone else. Well, besides this guy that was standing by her.

"Er… hey Amber." He says while Gabriella gives her a small, very small smile. "And you are…"

"This is Marcus." She says while the guy nods and looks Gabriella up and down. But it doesn't go unnoticed by Troy, who protectively wraps an arm around Gabriella's shoulder. "I met him last night. And this is Troy." She says in her smooth voice while tilting her head to the side. "And Gabriella."

"Hey man." Troy says, while nodding his head in that guy way that Gabriella would never understand.

"What's up?" Marcus says in a heavy Hispanic accent, but he was staring at Gabriella the whole time. She feels Troy's arm bring her closer again.

"We should get going." Gabriella says while looking up at Troy, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "It was nice meeting you." She says politely as Troy nods at him. 

"You too." He says while giving her one last look up and down. 

"Bye Troy." Amber says while giving off her seductive smile that seemed to come natural. Gabriella feels a slightly protective pang hit her as she reaches up and grabs the hand that was draped over her shoulder and laces it with hers. "Gabriella."

"Amber." Gabriella says with a small nod and watches as the two turn away and walk towards the front doors of the lobby. She sighs as she continues to watch them walk out of the hotel and then feels a small tug on her hand that was connected to Troy's.

"So… are you gonna watch them all day?" He asks with a playful smile as she shakes her head and they walk out one of the many back doors leading to the pool. Troy picks a beach chair and straddles it, while pulling Gabriella down in the process so she was straddling it too, but her back was to his chest. "I'm starved."

Troy grabs the plastic bag while Gabriella's mind was wandering. It was so awkward between the four of them back there, but it didn't go unnoticed by Gabriella how tense he was when he first saw Amber. That was weird. She knew they were sorta friends, but it was strange at how tense it was since it was the first time Gabriella was alone with the two of them. Besides Marcus. "That guy was weird." She says as she feels Troy tense up behind her.

"You're not shitting me. The guy couldn't take his eyes off you." He says while giving a small kiss on the back of her neck, sending shivers. "Even I wouldn't check a girl out right in front of my date." 

Gabriella turns around and gives him a playful smile. "So you would do other worse things though?"

Troy rolls his eyes and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "No… never with you." He mumbles. "But I don't blame the guy. You look hot."

She feels a blush erupt on her cheeks as he places a small plate in front of her with a sandwich on it. "Thanks." She says as she picks it up and looks at it. "You didn't poison it did you?"

Troy chuckles and shakes his head. "Nah. I figure I'll let you live at least until the third day of us going out."

She smiles again and takes a bite. There was no denying it. It defiantly WAS the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich she had ever had. "Shit Troy!" She says with food in her mouth and turns her head around to see he was smiling at her. "That's incredible."

Her smirks at her and leans up against her ear. "It's not the only thing I'm good at." He mumbles huskily.

She swallows and feels his lips land on hers. Her hand wraps around the back of his neck while he pulls her body closer to his, if that was even possible. They both let go and Gabriella gives him a seductive smile that would even make Amber's look weak. "I'll be the one to determine that."


	14. Staying Sane

_Gabriella could feel the hot acid running down from her eyes. She was staring at her purple comforter that now had water droplets collected on it. Throughout the house were two voices. Two voices those were so close to her heart, screaming at each other. Her stomach was in knots as she couldn't help but feel this would have never happened if it wasn't for her. "YOU COULDN'T EVEN COME TO ONE DAMN RECITAL!" Her mother's voice echoes through her room._

_Gabriella could feel the tearstains burn into her skin as she could hear something slam from downstairs. The cold plastic was sitting in her hands seemed to be freezing her skin. Three hours ago, it seemed to glow from inside, her first place trophy from that evening's competition. But now, it felt disgusting, worthless, the cause of pain._

"_I TOLD YOU LAST NIGHT I HAD TO WORK! THIS WAS A HUGE DEAL!" Her father's deep voice shakes the house as Gabriella could feel her fingers beginning to go numb. "I GOT A PROMOTION BECAUSE OF IT! YOU SHOULD BE FUCKING HAPPY!"_

"_OH A PROMOTION! THAT JUST CHANGES EVERYTHING DOESN'T IT? MORE REASONS TO BE OUT OF YOUR DAUGHTER'S LIFE!" Gabriella pushes the trophy off her bed and hears it fall to the floor with a crash. She didn't want to look at it anymore. It would only make her be sick._

"_I'M NOT OUT OF HER LIFE!" Her father's voice bellows._

"_WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CAME TO ONE OF HER DANCE COMPETITIONS? TWO YEARS AGO? THREE YEARS?" Her mother's equally loud scream almost breaks the windows in her room that already had tears of their own streaming down them. Thunder rumbles outside the walls of the house. _

"_I DO THIS FOR BOTH OF YOU! SO SHE CAN PERFORM IN THESE FUCKING RECITALS!" Her father's voice bellows again. _

"_SHE DOESN'T CARE! SHE JUST WANTS HER FATHER BACK!" Gabriella swears she sees a crack form on the window in the corner as a flash of lightning lights up the room, showing Gabriella's bloodshot eyes and short almost black hair that fell in front of her face._

_It was too much for a ten year-old to handle. Way too much. She fell asleep to the sounds of her parents fighting every night. It was almost as if it was a cruel lullaby, like nails on a chalkboard. Her ears were almost bleeding from the sounds of it. "REALLY? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME SHE CAME UP AND HUGGED ME? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME SHE CALLED ME DADDY? IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE SHE WANTS ME THERE!"_

"_THAT'S BECAUSE IF SHE FUCKING GOT HER HOPES UP THEY WOULD JUST BE SMASHED BECAUSE YOU CAN'T EVEN BE IN HER LIFE!" Her mother's voice pierces the loudest of all of them. "YOU CAN'T HAVE BOTH JOSE!"_

"_WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" He bellows back and Gabriella feels her body turn numb. The silent tears that were on her face turns to sobs. There was no way out. Where ever she went, she would hear it. Her small fingers grab the pillow that was resting against her headboard and she closes it over her ears, but finds it unsuccessful._

"_WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU, JOSE? YOU'RE JOB OR US? MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND!" Her mother's voice screams._

"_YOU WANT ME TO CHOOSE MARIA? FINE!" A bellow let out and Gabriella gasps for air. Her sobs were loud but they seemed to be silent. She prayed. It was all she could do. She prayed to God to make it stop. Make it all go away._

"_WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!" The female voice screams._

"_OUT! I'M DONE WITH THIS SHIT!" Another slam of something. She hears stomps up the stairs and then a door crashes into something. Gabriella shuts her eyes, praying this was a dream. Trying to force time to go back to three hours ago when she was on top of the world. How could she even be so happy three hours ago?_

_Another bang and then stomps down the steps. "IS THAT HOW IT IS JOSE?! YOU JUST GOING TO UP AND LEAVE?"_

"_YOU TOLD ME TO MAKE A CHOICE! AND IF I'M NOT WANTED HERE…"_

_Gabriella's body starts to shake. Of course he was wanted here. He was her father. Even if he wasn't there for her like a father should be, she didn't want her parents to split up. "YOU ARE WANTED HERE DAMN IT! BUT YOU'RE JOB'S JUST TOO FUCKING IMPORTANT! MORE IMPORTANT THAN US!"_

"_GOODBYE MARIA!" A final slam of the door and suddenly the house was eerily quiet. Gabriella lifts her head away from the pillow and another crash of thunder hits the air. She hears a slam of what sounded like a car door and suddenly her body finds it's feeling again. Her long legs sprint to the window to see the head light lit up the rain._

_Her small fingers connect with the cold glass as they trace down. He would come back. He had to come back. It was just one of their stupid fights that they always had. But something sitting in the pit of the ten year-old's stomach was telling her otherwise. The tears in her eyes kept up with the same pace of the rain running down the window as she watches the car pull out of their long driveway. Her eyes follow as the bright red car speeds to the left, away from the house. He would come back, he always did. She trusted him to come back._

_He never came back. _

* * *

"Come on! You have got to make those!" Troy yells angrily as he watches the guy clearly miss the shot. He leans forward towards the screen more while running a hand through his hair. "Fuck!" He exclaims as he leans back into the headboard and feels two soft arms wrap themselves around his waist, instantly making him feel a little better about the guy's stupidity.

"They're only down by four Troy." A sweet angelic voice says while leaning her head against his chest. Troy sighs angrily and drapes an arm around Gabriella's shoulder. It wasn't basketball season; anyone with a TV knew that. But for some reason, you could always find some game on TV. "You're a typical guy."

"It's a sport. It's in my blood." He says while sighing. He looks down at Gabriella would was just wearing an orange lace tank top and gray shorts, while he was in white basketball shorts and a bright blue shirt that brought out his eyes. "Sorry, I know I'm probably boring as hell right now."

Gabriella shrugs. Gabriella and Troy had been together for three amazing weeks now. Both were falling for each other harder and faster then anyone else had fallen before. Even though they had only known each other for six weeks, it seemed more like they had known each other all their lives. "A little. But I talk about dance all the time, so it's payback."

He shrugs and looks at her. "You can talk about it all you want. Just as long as I get to see you in your tights, I'm happy."

"You're a piece of work Bolton." She says while hitting his chest playfully with a smile on her face.

Troy smiles and grabs the black remote that was sitting on the bed next to them and turns it off. It was Friday night and they were in Troy's hotel room. Chad and Taylor were out somewhere at that moment but the two decided to stay in. That was one thing of the many things Troy loved about Gabriella. He didn't have to take her places for her to be happy. They had just as much fun staying in the hotel rooms as they did going out. Maybe even more. "Well… we could do something we both like…" Troy says while leaning down and gently pressing his lips to her neck.

He slowly leans his arm over her while he could feel her small body slip lower so she was completely horizontal. Troy leans his body over so he was lying on top of her while she wraps her arms around his neck. "I like the way you think." She says seductively as he smiles against her skin. His lips dance across her neck until he finds the spot he was looking for and slowly begins to suck and nip. "Troy…" He could hear her say while her hands were now dropping down and find their way back up his stomach. Her nails run up his formed abs, sending shivers across his body.

His lips leave the now purple and red spot on her neck and trail up across her jaw line until he connects them with her own. People may think that they were going way to fast for only dating for three weeks, but to them it seemed like they were making up the time they hadn't had together. Troy's tongue licks her bottom lip, and she grants him access by opening up her mouth. Their tongues dance with each other as one of Troy's hand slips underneath the orange lace tank top and draws circles onto her stomach with his thumbs. "Gab." He says while they both open their mouths for a breath of air.

He could feel himself begin to harden up as a slight throb started to form. His hand responds by traveling further north and connects with the spot it was looking for under her bra. Gabriella moans into his mouth as he starts to massage her left breast slowly while still exploring her mouth with his tongue. His body was starting to warm up as Gabriella's fingers trace down the skin on his chest as he shutters a little. "Better… then… the game?" Gabriella asks in between kisses as Troy's hand switches over to the other breast and begins to give that the attention it was looking for.

"Oh yea." He responds huskily as his lips connect with hers again, feeling the throb pulsing even more now.

He doesn't notice the click of the door or the fact that laughing was now going on. "Hey gu… whoa!"

Troy's body suddenly freezes as he feels Gabriella flip him over. His hand falls out from her shirt as he rolls over and suddenly feels the soft comfort of the bed leave him. His side suddenly connects with the hardwood as he hits the ground with a thud. "Fuck!" He yells in pain while clutching his arm that hit first.

"I thought you guys weren't coming back til later!" He hears Gabriella say in a voice that was way too high for her own as he lifts his head up and looks over the bed to see Chad, Taylor, Zeke, and Sharpay all standing in the room staring at them. He rubs his arm that was aching, but was almost thankful that the bed was blocking him, because his bulge was still sticking straight up through his white shorts. Thought were circling around his head to try and get rid of his excitement. _Think of your mom's ugly painting in her room. _

"We got bored." Chad says with an amused smile playing on his lips. He was obviously loving every seconds of this while staring at the two. _The sweater Aunt Jean got for you for Christmas. _Troy could feel his face was probably the color of Chad's tomato colored shirt as Gabriella seemed to blend in with it perfectly. "Then we met up with Shar and Zeke and decided to come back here since Shar needed Taylor's shoes or something?"

"They're my shoes." Sharpay says and looks at Taylor. At least this was stalling time. Come on, why was nothing working? "Taylor just stole them."

"They're somewhere in Chad's stuff." Taylor says while glancing over everything but then looking back at Gabriella.

_Come on Bolton think of something! _Troy looks over to see that Gabriella was fixing her top a little and trying to bring her hair forward so his mark wasn't as noticeable. He was started to become softer, but you could still see it. Taylor and Sharpay were giggling as Zeke and Chad both had amused smiles on their faces. "You guys look like you were having fun." Sharpay says in between giggles and Troy watches as Gabriella's face goes even redder if that was possible.

"We were just…" Gabriella says while still playing with her hair. "Troy?"

_The time Aaron coated your head with peanut butter and you had to sit in the cold shower for fifteen minutes getting it out. _"Yes." Troy mumbles as he becomes completely soft. He springs up from the floor. Gabriella's head whips around and her eyes grow wide when she sees that he was completely normal again. "What? It's not like I haven't walked in on you two four times in the two weeks." Troy says while pointing to Chad and Taylor, who both immediately turn red.

Gabriella shuts her eyes as Troy scratches the back of his neck nervously. Ok, so probably not the best thing to say right now, especially since he was supposed to be covering for them, and not making it worse.

"Bolton, you've gotta work on excuses." Sharpay says as she shakes her head. "Cuz you suck."

Gabriella smiles and looks up at him. "She's right you know."

Troy rolls his eyes and looks down at her. "Shut up."

Sharpay rolls her eyes at their flirting and then turns to Taylor. "Even though this was great and everything… I just need my shoes back." She says while looking through a pile that were Chad's and Taylor's clothes, since Taylor had some of hers in Chad's room, along with Troy hearing about Gabriella finding a pair of Chad's boxers in their room. Troy found it a little funny that he and Gabriella started going out a week after Taylor and Chad, and he knew the other two had had sex already, while Troy had just started feeling Gabriella up last week.

"Found 'em!" Taylor exclaims and holds up a pair of bright pink heels that had to be four inches tall. "Don't let Zoey see you in them on Sunday."

"Shit that's right!" Sharpay says while looking at both Gabriella and Taylor at the same time. Troy feels realization dawn on his face. "I'm the fucking captain and I forgot! The bitch probably didn't tell me, thinking I'd forget or something."

Gabriella was the only one who had a slightly confused face on. "Zoey… as in our coach Zoey?"

Sharpay nods. "She's coming on Sunday. Fuck I completely forgot! I'll kill Amber for letting me forget!" She says and smacks her hand against her head. "Come on Zeke, I have to go kill her. See you guys later."

Troy gives a wave as the two walk out the door and it shuts. Gabriella stands up also and Troy glances at the clock to see it was 11:14 PM. He watches as Taylor glances at the clock and looks at Gabriella. "We should head out too."

Troy groans and grabs Gabriella's waist, pulling her to him. She turns around in his arms so she walks looking up into his eyes as he stares down at her. "Don't go."

She sighs and bites her bottom lip. "I have to."

Troy shakes his head. "No you don't."

"Uh… guys! We're right here!" Chad says and Troy looks over Gabriella's head to give Chad a nasty glare. His eyes then look back down to see that Gabriella was giggling a little.

She leans up and gives him a light kiss on the lips, then gives him an innocent smile that makes his heart melt. "You still wanna do something tomorrow right?"

Troy nods. "You guys aren't going to the party tomorrow?" Taylor asks while both of them look over at her with raised eyebrows.

"What party?" Troy asks while Gabriella shrugs.

"I forgot about that." She says while looking back at Troy. "Central Augusta is throwing a party three hotels down. You wanna go?"

Troy shrugs. "I guess." He says as a smile plays on Gabriella's lips as she kisses him lightly again.

"Good. I'll just call you after camp." She says as Troy smiles and nods as she turns to Taylor who was now standing impatiently in the doorway. "You ready?"

Taylor nods. "See you Troy." She says while she leans up and kisses Chad. "Bye Chad."

Troy watches as his girlfriend gives him one more wave before walking out the door and shutting it behind her. He sighs and sits down on the bed with Chad smirking at him with his arms crossed. "What?"

Chad shakes his head while stripping off his red shirt and throwing it in a corner. "You two looked like you were enjoying each other."

Troy rolls his eyes as he throws off his own t-shirt and puts it into a plastic bag that was his dirty laundry. "Whatever." He says but feels a small smirk playing on his face.

Chad grins at him. "It's good to see this again." He says as Troy raises his eyebrows at his best friend.

"See what?" Troy asks as Chad pulls down his pants to reveal green and white pinstriped boxers.

"You happy." He says while Troy shakes his head.

"You calling me depressed?" Troy asks but Chad shakes his head and grabs the covers while pulling them out and going underneath them.

"No… but I haven't seen you like this since sixth grade." He says and Troy closes his eyes, trying not to think about that memory.

Troy runs a hand through his hair. "Dude… Chad not now."

Chad sighs and turns out the light on his side of the room. "I'm just saying…" He says and Troy glances at him. "And she's hot too."

Troy rolls his eyes and turns out his own light while crawling into his bed and shutting his eyes. "I'll tell Tay you said that."

Chad shrugs. "She'll just be happy I have good taste." He says and Troy hears him sigh in the dark. There was about five minutes of silence and sleep seemed to spread over Troy's body, but he jerks back awake when he hears. "Dude?"

"Yea?" Troy answers while still closing his eyes and turning over to the side that was closest to Chad's bed.

"Have you told Brie yet?" He asks and sighs again. Troy opens one of his eyes and could see the outline of Chad's bed in the dark. A slight glow shone from the moon outside and Troy could hear the faint sound of tourists partying outside the window.

Troy turns over to the other side so Chad couldn't see the tear that had formed on his eyelid. "No… and I'm not planning on it."

Troy could imagine Chad shaking his head. "Dude, you can't not tell her."

"Yes I can." Troy responds.

"You can't pretend that it never happened man." Chad says while Troy sighs angrily. He didn't want to talk about this. Not now, not ever.

"It's in the past. It's gonna stay in the past." He says.

"That's dumb Bolton." Chad responds.

Troy could feel his voice start to crack a little as noise comes out of his mouth. "If she finds out, she finds out. But there's no point in bringing it back alright?" He says while wiping the stray tear that was on his cheek. "Just drop it."

He hears Chad sigh on the bed next to his. "I don't know how you do it man."

Troy finally turns over and looks at the outline of his best friend again. "Do what?" He asks as Chad's head pops up out of the darkness.

"Stay sane." He responds and turns over. "Cuz everyone else would crack."

Troy turns over and faces the window one more time. He closes his eyes and feels sleep tug at his body once again. The only thing that Chad didn't know though, was that inside, Troy did crack. He cracked every single day of his life since he was in sixth grade. But the only difference was that Troy was the best at keeping secrets, so he never had to show it.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks so much for reviewing! They really keep the story going, so thanks! And Happy Easter everyone!


	15. The Coach

_Troy sits at the table impatiently as he waits for his mother to get off the phone. He could feel the piercing sensation against his lip as he holds the ice closer to the bleeding spot. "Oh… I see." He hears in the background as his face cringes at the anger that was in her voice. "No… I'll have a talk with him… It just doesn't seem like him to do this…" Troy tries to drone the voice out but finds it almost impossible, since he knew that she was going to come here soon and raise it towards him._

"_She's so mad." A voice enters Troy's ears as he turns to see the chocolate brown colored hair had entered the kitchen. His piercing blue eyes narrow on his bother as the eleven year old takes a seat across from Troy and smirks at his brother. "You're gonna be grounded until your eighty."_

_Troy turns away from Aaron and looks down at the floor. "It's not my fault." He says while finding the ground suddenly so much more interesting then the conversation he was having with his brother. He could almost see Aaron's eyes roll at the comment as Troy looks up again to hear his mother._

"_Alright… thank you… goodbye." She says as Troy's eyes grow wide. He puts down the ice pack that he was holding up to his lip and hears the click of heels on the hardwood until they suddenly stop. Troy couldn't bring his head up to look his mother in the eyes, to see the anger in them. "Aaron… go to your room."_

"_What? I didn't do it!" Aaron exclaims and Troy could imagine his horror stricken face._

"_Aaron James!" Lucille Bolton's sharp and angry voice hisses as Troy hears his brother mutter something angrily then stomp out of the kitchen. He doesn't hear footsteps on the steps though, so he figures Aaron was sitting at the bottom, listening to what was about to occur. "Aaron!" His mother yells and Troy then hears a stomp on the stairs._

"_I'm going!" He calls back while his mother turns back to Troy._

"_Troy Alexander Bolton. I cannot believe you. I get a call at work today saying my son was in a fight at school!" Troy remains silent as he stares at the floor. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"_

_The ten year-old shakes his head and continues to stare at his white shoes. "No."_

"_Look at me!" His mother hisses. Troy's head immediately snaps up, not wanting to know the consequences if he didn't. "How many times have your father and I said that violence is never the answer?"_

_Troy closes his eyes and shakes his head. "A lot." He says in the smallest voice possible._

"_You could have really gotten hurt!" She says as Troy looks up at his mother._

"_Brian started it!" Troy says as his mother rolls her eyes._

"_I don't care who started it or who finished it!" She exclaims and shakes her head. "I never want to hear that you got into a fight again ok?"_

_The fourth grader nods. "Ok." He responds._

_Lucille sighs as she kneels down to Troy's level and places a hand on the table to balance herself. Her mood suddenly changes from anger to caring mother and Troy was almost thrown off by the sudden change. "It's just not like you Troy." She says while running a hand through her youngest son's shaggy hair._

_Troy suddenly feels guilty and looks down at his feet again. "He said I'd never be as good as Aaron and I should just stop trying."_

_Lucille sighs and runs another hand through Troy's hair. "Honey… you can't compare yourself to your brother." She says while Troy looks away from her. He got this speech all the time from her, but it never really sank in. Of course he had to compare himself to Aaron. It was impossible not to. "You two are two totally different people ok?"_

"_I know but…" He starts but his mother holds up her hand to stop him._

"_There's no use. Both of you are two very special boys who your father and I love equally. You understand?" Lucille asks._

_Troy looks to the side to see the basketball hoop that was sitting in the middle of the yard. It was so much easier to look everywhere else but at his mother. She wasn't right, and she would never understand. She never had a brother that was good at everything. She never had to deal with living in a shadow. She had no idea. And for his dad? Yea, he loved him when he wasn't paying attention to Aaron's greatness on the court. Which felt like never. "Yea…" Troy says, just to agree and get his mom off his back._

_His mother sighs and kisses his head. "No more fighting ok?" She says as Troy nods._

"_No more fighting." He repeats as Lucille stands up._

"_Now put the ice back on your lip. Your father wants to have a talk with you too when he comes home." She says as she starts to walk out of the room. Troy's eyes follow her as she leaves the room. He sighs again and then suddenly hears footsteps on the stairs as he sees Aaron standing there._

"_So…" The eleven year-old starts as he walks over to Troy. "How long are you grounded for?"_

_Troy shakes his head and looks back at his brother. "I'm not." He responds._

_Aaron raises his eyebrows and nods. "Nice. So that means you and Chad are still coming to my tournament this weekend." He states more then asks as Troy looks away from him. Great. That meant that he had to sit with a bunch of parents and listen to them say how great Aaron was, and how proud his mother should be of him. Well, at least he was still able to go with Chad._

"_I guess." Troy says jealously while putting the ice back onto his lip. He looks back out to the basketball court and stares at it for another minute. He then puts the ice back down and gets up from the table. Aaron looks over at him with a confused look on his face._

"_Hey! Where you going?" He asks while Troy points his thumb over his shoulder._

"_Backyard." He responds. Aaron makes a movement to come too but Troy runs out the screen door before his brother could follow him. His lip throbbed a little, but other then that he was ok. He grabs the basketball that was lying on the ground and walks over to the hoop. He stands stiffly and takes his shot, watching as it bounces off the backboard and away from the net._

_He shoots five more times before hearing the screen door open again. His piercing blue eyes glance over as Aaron walks over with his hands in his pockets. "You gotta bend your knees more, your stiff."_

_Troy looks away from his brother, not really wanting advice from him right now. "My shot's fine." He responds but his brother walks over to him and places his hands on the ball, taking it away from Troy's grasp._

"_Come here." He says and faces the basketball while Troy glares at him a little and finally looks at him. "Use your knees more…" The eleven year-old says and bends down. "Then push off with the balls of your feet." He does and Troy watches angrily as it sinks into the basket. _

_Troy looks at his brother with envy. "What are balls of your feet?" He asks as Aaron gets his rebound and lifts his foot up._

"_Right here." He responds, pointing to them. He passes the ball to Troy who catches it with grace. "Try it." Troy nods and bends down further with his knees and pushes off. He watches as it sinks in perfectly. Even though he was happy to actually get it in, he was also mad that his brother was right about the shooting thing. "See? Easy as pie."_

_Aaron takes his rebound and shoots it again, making it as well. Troy desperately wishs that he could be his brother. Maybe then he'd actually get the recognition of being good that he deserved, since after all, he was the harder working Bolton. But as he discovered how unfair life was, it didn't matter. Aaron would always be the better Bolton, whether Troy liked it or not._

* * *

A giggle erupts the air as Gabriella slides a little on the sand, but attempting to hang onto the red cup for her dear life. She giggles as she falls down, connecting her backside with the sand. A spit of laughter comes from her throat as she snorts a little while stretching her legs out that were in her jeans. She reaches up and grabs a hand that was dangling in front of her and pulls it down too, so the gorgeous brown-haired blue eyed boy was now sitting next to her. "Hey!" The boy says while leaning close to her ear and blowing hot breath onto her neck.

Gabriella was drunk. Troy was drunk. It was as simple as that. They had arrived at the Central Augusta party about three hours ago, and now both were completely wasted. Gabriella really wasn't much of a drinker, sure she did it once in awhile, but nothing major. But when Troy started drinking, and then offered some to Gabriella, she couldn't resist. And before she knew it, she found herself completely smashed.

"Are you guys ok?" Taylor voice asks from the heavens as Gabriella looks up to see her best friend was looking down at her with her own drunken boyfriend sucking on her neck. She was also standing next to Sharpay and Zeke, who were basically having sex in front of them, only they were wearing clothes, for right now. Jason was standing beside them, talking to one of the younger players of the East High basketball team. They were all drunk, except maybe Taylor, who was just a little tipsy.

"We're great!" Gabriella practically yells as she feels Troy's lips connect with her neck as he begins to suck on it. She giggles again and feels his arm drape around her shoulder with a red cup in that hand. Gabriella grabs the cup and pulls it up to her lips to take a sip of whatever he was drinking. "Troy!" She whines as she feels his lips connect with her sweet spot.

"I l-love it when you sc-scream my name." He slurs into her ear that would usually sound husky if he was sober, but now it just sounded weird. But it causes Gabriella to giggle again and lean towards him, connecting their lips together. Troy wastes no time to shove his tongue into Gabriella's mouth, with her grabbing both sides of his face to pull him closer.

She feels Troy's hand slip under her shirt and begin to make its way north. But then she suddenly hears someone above her and then feels her and Troy's head being pulled apart. "Ok, that's enough." Taylor says while Troy's hand slips from under her shirt and he looks up at Taylor angrily. "And I think you've both had enough." She says while wrestling the red plastic cups with the two of them.

"Tay!" Gabriella whines as she tries to grab it back, but just misses her hand and falls into Troy's lap instead. She giggles a little as she turns over to see Troy was laughing at her from above.

"Taylor… you need t-to just r-relax." Chad slurs out while Troy stroks Gabriella's side up and down, since she was still in his lap.

Taylor rolls her eyes at him. "How can I relax when I have six trashed friends to baby-sit?" She asks frustrated as Troy looks up at her and blinks a couple times.

"I dunno…" Troy responds while Taylor rolls her eyes again.

"It was a rhetorical question Troy." She says as Troy's mouth forms the shape of an "o". But his eyes look down to Gabriella's again as he suddenly connects their lips together in a heated and very sloppy kiss. Gabriella giggles into his mouth as she wraps her arms around his neck, feeling her tongue slip into his mouth as well.

"Let's… get… the hell…" Troy says in between kisses and tries to drag her up, but Gabriella could tell he was struggling. She could feel his tongue being shoved down her throat, and if she was sober, she would have found it extremely unfamiliar to his normal kisses, but it didn't matter since he was wasted. They finally manage to stand up and Gabriella turns to Taylor while pointing to their hotel that was three down from the one they were at.

"We're leaving." She says while feels Troy suck on her neck. Taylor looks at them.

"Um… maybe you guys should wait until we leave too." She says but Gabriella shakes her head while Troy starts to walk forward, while still hanging onto Gabriella.

"We'll be fin…" She starts to say before feeling her feet trip and falls down, with Troy coming with her. They land knotted together while Gabriella was giggling and Troy was chuckling. It was going to be a long walk back.

* * *

Gabriella could feel the sun beat down onto her face as she rolls over. Her head was throbbing like no other as she feels her back tense up as she begins to stretch. The blood rushes through her ears for a moment before she relaxes again and opens her eyes, adjusting to the light. She sits up while rubbing her eyes, still feeling the throb her head was causing her as she sighs. "Tay? What time is it?"

No one responds. She sighs again and opens her eyes, assuming that Taylor spent the night at Chad's. But when her eyes do open, they find themselves in a place that wasn't her room. She looks around desperately, but then realizes that the place was familiar. She rubs her head again and leans her back against the head board. She hears the bathroom door open off in the distance somewhere. "How're you feeling?"

Gabriella looks up to see that her boyfriend was standing in a pair of blue basketball shorts and no shirt on. She squints, almost hoping that it would help the headache go away, but finds it unsuccessful. "My head feels like someone dropped a truck on it." She says while hearing his footsteps as he walks over to the bed. She feels the weight right next to her as she opens up her eyes again and watches Troy smile a little. "Why are you fine? I thought you hate mornings."

"I do." He responds and gently kisses her lips. "But I went running." He says and Gabriella finally notices that his hair was wet, making her assume he had just gotten out of the shower.

Suddenly, a thought occurs to Gabriella. It makes her stomach flip for a moment. "Wait… did we…?" She starts to say but Troy shakes his head, making her sigh with relief.

"No… you passed out about five minutes after we got in here." He says which makes Gabriella feel so much better. It wasn't that she never wanted to have sex with Troy, but she really would have rather not do it when she was wasted and couldn't remember how it would have felt.

"Oh…" She says slightly embaressed and then feels Troy's arms slip onto her lower waist. A small smile plays on his lips as he leans towards her.

"Well… we could do it now, just to make up for not doing it last night." He says with his husky voice that had now returned to him. Gabriella rolls her eyes but feels his lips close the gap between the two.

"Nice try Bolton." She says but then suddenly feels his lips land on hers. She feels his tongue massage her own, so much more gently then he did last night. Her hands run up his bare chest, and she swears she hears him moan into her mouth at the sensation.

They continue to kiss for another fifteen minutes before finally letting go. Troy rests his forehead onto Gabriella's, whose still hurt like no tomorrow, but it was feeling a little better just being with him. "I should go… my coach is coming in a couple hours and I wanna make a good impression."

She watches as Troy gets a somewhat sad look on his face, but then shrugs it off. "Yea…" He just says while Gabriella plays with the hair on the back of his neck. She didn't want to be away from him, but she knew she had to.

"But I'll call you later ok?" She says while giving his lips another peck and getting out from under the covers.

"Let me know how it goes." He says while kissing her cheek lightly. Gabriella smiles and nods.

"Will do… bye Troy." She says with a wave while walking out the door.

Four hours later, Gabriella found herself standing in the lobby with Taylor standing next to her. Sharpay was standing in the front of the two, arguing with Amber about something unimportant. They were going to meet her coach, since Gabriella had never met her and the two captains had to greet her of course, while Gabriella just asked Taylor to come too. She still had a headache beyond all belief, but it was slowly starting to go away, which she was incredibly thankful for. "Sorry you were stuck babysitting last night." She says while Taylor shrugs.

"Shit happens. It's not the first time." She says while Gabriella smiles at her softly. "It was probably more fun watching you and Troy act wasted then getting drunk."

A blush erupts on Gabriella's cheek. She couldn't remember much about what happened last night, and Taylor had filled her in a little on what she saw. "Thanks Tay." She says sarcastically while hearing Sharpay huff about something.

"What? So this it's this Marcus guy now?" Sharpay exclaims. "I don't want to keep walking into the room to see you two fucking on the bed!"

Gabriella was shocked at the fact that Amber's normally calm demeanor was completely thrown off and angry now. "Don't give me that shit Sharpay! All you do screw with Zeke! Don't be pissed off just because I now have someone too." She says while Sharpay rolls her eyes.

"I don't care who you're messing around with!" Sharpay exclaims. "Just don't do it in our room!"

Amber crosses her arms and stares at the blonde girl. "I'm sorry you're jealous of what I have with Marcus, but it's my room too."

Sharpay's eyes grow wide. "Jealous? JEALOUS?" She says exasperated. "I'm not jealous! I have a boyfriend… remember? And at least mine's not some random guy in the middle of Mexico."

Amber rolls her eyes. "Yea… I do remember. You remind me constantly." She says while glancing towards the door. "And what I do is my business. You can't control me." She says while taking a step forward towards the blonde.

Suddenly, the door to the hotel opens and Gabriella's eyes look up. Standing there was a tall woman, with bleach blonde hair that seemed almost white. The woman seemed to be a stick, but she had to at least be 5'11''. A smile erupts on the woman's face as she strides over and Sharpay and Amber immediately put fake smiles on their faces. "Ladies!"

"Hey Zoey." Sharpay and Amber say at the exact same time, while they both glare at each other in the corner of their eyes. "How was your flight?" Amber asks, probably sucking up to the coach. Gabriella looks at Taylor who gives her a small nod, confirming that was indeed her.

"It was great." She says while setting her suitcase down. "And hearing from your messages it sounds like everyone's doing great." She says in a peppy voice that reminds Gabriella faintly of Sharpay herself.

"Mhhhmmm." Sharpay says while glancing back to see that Gabriella and Taylor were still leaning up against the wall.

"Taylor!" Zoey exclaims while walking over and giving the dark girl a hug. She lets go and then turns to Gabriella. Now that she was up close, Gabriella could see that she had bright blue eyes, but couldn't help but think how they weren't even close to the color of her favorite pair of blue eyes. "And you must be…"

"Gabriella Montez." Gabriella says while the woman extends her hand out. Gabriella takes it to see the coach smiling brightly at her.

"I read your transcript." Zoey says while beaming at the her like she was the answer to her prayers. "I was very impressed."

"Thank you." Gabriella says while watching in the corner of her eye as the two captains walk over to them.

"She's the best." Sharpay says while Gabriella smiles a little seeing the frown that erupts on Amber's flawless face.

"She is very… unique." She says while Gabriella does her best not to give the girl a dirty look.

"Well… then you'll fit right in here." Zoey says while grabbing her suitcase. The woman walks towards the check out counter with out another word while Gabriella glances at Taylor.

"She seems… ummm… nice?" Gabriella says, not exactly sure what to make of the woman yet. Taylor nods and the two girls glance to see that Sharpay and Amber were glaring at each other, but didn't say another word.

"Yea… she is." Taylor responds and then sighs. "But I swear those two aren't gonna make it for another week with out ripping each other's brains out." Taylor says in a hushed voice while Gabriella shrugs.

"Let's just pray that Shar's the winner." She says while continuing to look at the two girls who hated each other.


	16. Incredible

**A/N: **Just to warn you guys, this chapter gets graphic. I know a couple people were uncomfortable about it before, but there is a reason this story is rated M. If you guys don't want to read it, I'm pretty sure you'll figure out when it's coming so you don't have to read the rest of the chapter. But anyways, thanks so much for reading and the reviews are great! Thanks so much!

* * *

It was Saturday and Troy had no idea why he was on top of his game that day. But he was. It was almost godly to watch him perfectly dribble down the court and pass the ball to Tyler. He sprints into position and watches as the freshman takes a shot, but misses it. Troy sighs. Tyler was stiff when she shot, but it would just come with time. He sprints back as Joey takes it from the other side of the court. Troy bends his knees and plays the defense that he was taught. Before Joey could even try to pass the ball, Troy steals it away and dribbles back down, to jump up in the air for a perfect slam dunk, since the hoops were lower then normal.

Troy lets go of the rim and feels his smile burned onto his face that is until Perez sounds his whistle to call them in. "Alright bring it in!" Perez yells as they all run over and take a knee to the floor. Jason pats Troy on the back who beams back at him, knowing that he was defiantly on top of his game today, for reasons that he had no idea why. "We have a week until we start the tournament verses the other teams here." Troy knew it was tradition. They had their own little NCAA type of thing where they would play the different teams through out the camp. "You guys are looking great. But you gotta pick up the intensity a bit. The coaches are looking for MVP for the camp, so we wanna see your best."

"You got it Bolton." Someone says while patting Troy's sticky shoulder. He grins as he sees Perez look at him for a moment, before then continuing on with his speech.

"You guys gotta step it up." He says while looking at all of them. "Play as a team." His eyes lock on Troy's when he says this and Troy feels his own piercing blue eyes narrow a little. "Alright, you guys are done." He says while turning away. Everyone stands up and walks towards the locker room that was connected to the gym. He looks around to see that other teams were starting to file in as well, but what really catches his attention is the lone figure that was standing in the middle of the gym with a ball in his hands. Troy looks back at Jason who was waiting for him and motions him to go on.

"I'll catch up with you later." He says as he jogs past the crowd that was going to the locker-room. Troy jogs out into the middle of the court, and when he finally hears the final door shut to the locker room, he turns to see that the guy takes a shot and misses. He groans frustrated and Troy feels a small smile take over his face, knowing what it felt like to be that kid. "Tyler!"

Tyler turns around after grabbing his rebound and smiles. "Hey Troy." He says while walking back and taking another shot. It bounces off the rim and he groans angrily again.

"What's up man?" He asks while Tyler shrugs and grabs his rebound again. "I'd think you'd wanna get the hell outta here."

Tyler shrugs again. "Not til I get this." He says while taking another shot and missing.

A smile breaks out onto Troy's face. It reminded him of the hours he put in when he was trying to be better then Aaron. It didn't matter how hot, how cold, how shitty the weather was. He was always out there trying to beat the odds. Hell, it did pay off in the end. He was the captain of the varsity team, but Troy would trade all of that for one day to go differently.

"Here man, let me help." Troy says while walking over. Tyler looks at him and nods.

"I'm that bad huh?" He asks jokingly, but Troy shakes his head.

"Nah… but here." He says while holding his hands out for the freshman to pass him the ball. He does and Troy feels the bumpy surface beneath his fingers tips. "You gotta use you're knees more." Troy explains while demonstrating to the younger player. He suddenly flashbacks to the day he got into his fight and sees Aaron showing him. "Then push off with the balls of your feet." He does this and watches as it sinks it, a shot that would defiantly make Aaron proud. "Try it."

Tyler listens and grabs the ball. He bends his knees more and pushes off, just like Troy did a moment ago. The ball sinks in and a smile forms on his face. "Wow… that does help. Thanks."

Troy shrugs. "No problem." He says. "I had the exact same problem."

"Thanks Troy." Tyler says and takes another shot.

Troy smiles. "I'll catch you later." He says while turning around. His body suddenly stops as he sees a figure standing with his arms crossed. At first, Troy thinks the figure is glaring at him, but then he realizes that a small smile was playing on his lips. Troy takes a couple steps forward, locking eyes with Perez, and then walking towards the locker room to get changed.

He steps back out again to see that three other guys were standing there waiting for him. Chad walks towards him and smirks while they do their guy handshake thing. "You didn't think we were just gonna leave you did you?"

Troy smiles and he, Chad, Jason, and Zeke all begin walking towards the door. "I guess not." He says while they walk out and down the hallway. Music could be heard blaring from a couple levels below that Troy knew his girlfriend was probably dancing his heart out. "So J, heard from Kelsi lately?"

Jason shrugs while he places his hands in his jeans that he was now wearing. Troy was the only one still in basketball shorts since he figured there was no reason changing, he could just take a shower when he got back to his hotel. "I talked to her last night. She seems to be having fun." He says while Troy nods.

"What about you man?" Zeke asks while patting Troy on the back. "You and Brie seem to be on top of the world right now."

Troy smiles brightly as they walk down the stairs that was hot and sweaty since the hallways didn't seem to have air conditioning. "We are." Troy responds and couldn't help but imagine his gorgeous girlfriend.

"You takin' her out tonight?" Chad asks as they walk to the front doors of the gym and turn right, starting to make their way back to the hotel.

"Kind of…" He says slowly, already thinking about the plans he had for the evening.

"Well… just to warn you, Tay's coming over… so, you know." Chad says while Troy looks back at him for a moment and rolls his eyes.

"So that means don't come in cuz you don't want an interruption on your sex fest." Troy says while Chad laughs and pats Troy on the back.

"See, I knew you'd understand."

Troy rolls his eyes and continues to lead them down the street, back to the hotel were he could get ready for him and Gabriella's date tonight.

* * *

Gabriella smiles as she spins around in the mirror that was holding her reflection of herself wearing jean shorts, her small black Reebok shoes, a grey beater underneath a light blue one and a black zip up sweatshirt over it. Her hair was in tight curls and completely down as she turns around one more time to make sure she looked perfect.

The bathroom door opens and Taylor walks out with just a towel on. Her hair was dry and up in a cute knot, since Gabriella was pretty sure she didn't even bother to wash her hair."You look adorable." She says while Gabriella blushes a little. Taylor glances at the clock and raises her eyebrows. "Isn't Troy coming in an hour though?"

She nods slowly. "A little less… I just wanted to be ready." She says while Taylor rolls her eyes.

"Wow… I'm leaving for Chad's earlier and I'm still not ready." She says while she goes through her clothes and finally pulls out a pair of jeans and what Gabriella could see as a lace red tank top. "So where are you and Troy going anyways?"

Gabriella pauses as she tries to remember what Troy said on the phone earlier today. "I guess we're just having dinner on the beach or something." She says while glancing out the window to see that the sun was setting. Troy had told her he would pick her up by 8:30, and at the moment in was 7:45. She was getting extremely impatient. She hadn't seen him at all yesterday, since Zoey wanted the team to go out to dinner together.

She found this past week after the coach had sat in during their camp that she actually liked Zoey. She was hard, but at the end of the day she seemed to be a nice person after all. She knew at that moment that she was officially going to fit in at East High. At least, that was what it looked like for right now. But it defiantly helped that at the moment, she was dating their golden boy as well.

"Sounds romantic." Taylor says, bringing Gabriella out of her trance and she smiles.

"That's what I'm hoping." She says while fingering her cell phone that was laying on the table, almost praying that it would ring and Troy would tell her that he was coming over now. She turns back around to look in the mirror to make sure that her make up was perfect. After fixing her eyeliner, she turns back around to see that Taylor was now dressed and looking amazing. "Wow… you look hot."

"Thanks." She responds as she grabs the black purse that was sitting on her bed. "I'm leaving." She says while smiling at Gabriella. "Have fun alright? But not too much." She says with a knowing smile while Gabriella rolls her eyes.

"Get out of here." She says jokingly and watches as Taylor giggles. "I'll see ya in the morning."

"Bye!" Taylor waves as she walks out the door and then walks over to her own bed and sits down. About fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door. She rolls her eyes, thinking that it must just be Taylor forgetting her room key or something. She walks over and opens the door, to find her dark chocolate eyes grow wide at who was standing on the other side.

"Amber." She says slowly while Amber smiles at her. She looks the girl up and down, not understanding why she would be here. "Do you wanna… come in?" She asks slowly as Amber's smile grows larger as Gabriella opens the door wider.

"Thanks." She says while walking in to the small room. Gabriella was almost tempted to leave the door open, just in case something weird were to happen. Why was she here? Maybe they were having a team thing tonight again? But they couldn't, because she had to be with Troy. She was craving Troy. So she closes the door and watches as Amber sits down on her bed, making herself comfortable with Gabriella saying anything.

"So… um… what's up?" Gabriella asks slowly, still not knowing how to act. This was probably the first time that she and Amber were alone together. No one else around. Not Sharpay, not Taylor, not Troy. No one. To say Gabriella was threatened a little was a bit of an understatement. Why was this girl here?

"Well don't you look… cute." She says while making the last part sound like Gabriella was a four year old again. Gabriella's eyebrows rise as she looks at the brunette who was now standing and looking Gabriella up and down. "Are you going somewhere?"

Gabriella nods slowly. Was she trying to make small talk? This was so confusing. Why the hell was she here? "Um, yea Troy and I are going out." She says while watching Amber closely. Her eyes and facial features remain the same as she speaks Troy's name. What was up with this girl?

"Really? Where are you going?" She asks.

_None of your business. _"He's taking me to the beach." She says and watches as a smile breaks out onto Amber's face. What? Why would she smile at that? It didn't make any sense to Gabriella. But Amber strolls over to where the window was and glances outside. The sun was almost set at that moment, and Gabriella glances at the clock to see that it was 8:20. Troy would be there in ten minutes.

Amber looks back at Gabriella, still smiling her famous smile. "I'm sure you two will have… fun there." She says 'fun' in a weird way that almost makes Gabriella skin crawl. "His beach dates are the best." She pauses as Gabriella's eyebrows rise again. "So I hear."

This suddenly makes Gabriella more worried then what she was before. How would Amber know if his dates were fun or not? She watches as the brunette's piercing green eyes were cutting through Gabriella, almost as if trying to confirm what Gabriella was thinking. Did she ever have a thing with Troy? Did they date? Gabriella knew that Troy hadn't had a girlfriend before her since freshman year, but she never asked him about his sex life.

But there was a sudden knock on the door that brings Gabriella out of her thought again. She slowly walks backwards towards the door, as if trying to see if the answer was written on her body. As if there was a hickey or a scratch or scar that had Troy's name on it. She finally grabs the door knob and opens it slowly, finally ripping her eyes away from Amber to reveal her boyfriend leaning up against the door frame. "Hey beautiful." He says while kissing her cheek. "Sorry I'm early, but I was getting sick of watching Chad and Taylor trying to fuck each other."

Gabriella opens the door further to let him in. "It's fine." She says in a small voice as she glances back to see that Amber was still standing in the middle of the room.

"I brought pea…" He starts to say but his eyes lock on the girl in the middle of the room. "Amber?" He more questions then states as he quickly glances at Gabriella with confusion written across his features. She tries to tell give him a look that was just as confused as his own, but he looks back at the girl who was still smiling in the center of the room.

"Hi Troy." She says in her perfect seductive voice that suddenly makes Gabriella's skin crawl again. She feels her body tense up but then suddenly feels a soft hand on her own and Troy grabs it and laces their fingers together, almost giving her reassurance. "So you're taking her to the beach huh?"

Gabriella's looks up into Troy's eyes that were now narrowed on the girl standing there. "Yea…I am." He says in a voice that Gabriella found unfamiliar. "And we have to get going." He says in the same hard and tense voice.

Amber smiles at him and then nods. "Well… I wouldn't want to ruin anything." She says as she walks towards them. She walks past the two, brushing up against Troy's body in the process. Gabriella looks up into his face, to see that it was still as hard as a rock. "I'll see you later Brie." She says while still smiling and then Gabriella hears the door click open and then shut.

Troy suddenly spins around and looks at her. "What the hell was that about?"

Gabriella shakes her head. "I have no idea. She just showed up and started talking, then you showed up." She says while finally looking up into his piercing blue eyes. Amber's words were circling around her head. How much did she know about him? Had he ever been with Amber? Why didn't she ever think of this before?

Troy sighs and then takes her hand again. "Whatever. Come on, let's go." He says while leading her towards the door. Gabriella grabs her purse and follows him out the door.

* * *

About two hours later, Gabriella could feel the rough sand beneath her the navy blue blanket as she laid her head down on Troy's chest. He was drawing invisible circles on her arm with his thumb. Her mind was going a mile a minute. Amber's words didn't seem to get out of her head all through out their dinner, and all she could think about was if Troy's hand that was touching her bare skin, touched Amber like that in anyway.

The stars were shinning down on them as they lay in silence, neither one wanting to say a word. Gabriella could tell Troy was peaceful, while she was uptight. She couldn't stop thinking about him with other girls. Could she ask him? They had been dating for about a month now. She and Collin hadn't had the sex talk until their sixth month. But with Troy, it was different. She was falling for him so much faster, and from what it seemed harder as well. Why not ask him?

She takes a deep breath and looks up at him. "Troy?"

He looks down at her and smiles. "Hmm?"

"Um… can I ask you something and you promise not to be weirded out by it?" She says slowly as Troy props his body up on his elbows, leaving Gabriella's arm. His eyebrows raise as he looks down at her curiously.

"Um… sure?" He says. That wasn't good enough.

"You have to promise." She says. Troy then sighs and gently leans down and connects their lips sweetly.

"I promise." He mumbles against her lips as she takes a deep breath and nods.

"Ok…" She starts while pulling away from him. "Um… I really don't know how to…" She starts but then looks up into his crystal blue eyes, which were filled with lust. She takes another deep breath, finally finding the courage to actually ask him. "Ok… how many girls have you been with? Like… slept with?"

Troy lets out a breath. "You've been thinking about this huh?" He asks as Gabriella nods slowly and he finally sits up, bringing her with him. "How many girls or how many times I've done it?"

Gabriella almost winces at the question. "Err both." She says and stares into his eyes. "And be honest."

Troy nods and laces their hands together. "I've done it seven times." He says as Gabriella does her best not to wince. She knew it had to be a high number; she just wasn't sure how high. "My first time was after we won the championship my sophomore year. I did it twice with a junior two parties after that. One time after prom my sophomore year. A junior asked me, so I went with her and did it that night." He says and then sighs again. He suddenly tenses up, but Gabriella just assumes it was because he was slightly uncomfortable. "I did it once with a dancer last summer." He says slowly. "Then I went out on a date with a girl in my grade and we did it after. I did it with her again at a party." He says and then looks back at Gabriella. "So I've been with six girls."

Gabriella nods slowly. "Oh… so you've been around." She says softly as Troy's face drops a little.

"Hey… I'm no different then I was before." He says while lifting her chin up. "You're not pissed are you?"

Gabriella shakes her head. "No." She responds. "It was in your past, you could do what you want. But one more thing." She says and looks up at him slowly.

"What?" He asks while staring into her eyes.

"Have you ever been with Amber?" She asks the question that was dying to be asked. She watches as he carefully opens his mouth, but then sighs and shakes his head.

"No…" He says slowly while looking at the ground. Gabriella sighs and nods. She had to trust that he was telling the truth. If he said no, that meant no.

Troy smiles at her. "It's my turn. How many guys have you been with?"

Gabriella bites her lip a little as she thinks of how inexperienced she sounded compared to him. "Err… one." She says in a small voice as Troy smiles down reassuringly at her. "And we only did it once." She says and sighs. "It was my boyfriend of a year and a half." She says as Troy raises his eyebrows.

"Collin?" He asks, probably remembering what Gabriella had told him one time.

"Yea. It was the night of prom. He…err… we broke up a week later." She says looking away from him, not wanting him to ask why. "It's ok… towards the end, I couldn't see him in my future."

Troy nods and kisses her head again. He doesn't ask the question she was expecting, but instead she feels his lips against her neck. "What about me?" He asks while she could feel his lips sucking gently. "What can you see with me?"

Gabriella was almost scared as he asks this question. They were only dating for a month, while she and Collin had dated for a year and a half. It took her that long for them to finally have sex, but she was pretty sure she didn't want to wait that long with Troy. In fact, she probably wouldn't have complained if he took her right there. But is that was she wanted right now? His lips trail up her neck as she suddenly feels them press against her own. She wraps he arms around his neck and feels him lean her back. Her back connects with the rough sand that was covered by the blanket as his body drapes over hers. "I… I wanna be with you." She whispers as they take a break.

Troy stares down at her with lust in his eyes. His lips crash down onto hers again in a heated kiss as his hand starts to make it's way up her shirt. She arches her back when she feels him massage her breast and a moan was stifled in his mouth. "I wanna be with you too." He whispers as his lips take a break for breath again as they then trail down her jaw line and back to her neck. His hand switches to the other breast that was craving the attention as Gabriella could feel a pulse was starting to form in between her legs.

"Troy…" She moans as he kisses down as he pulls of the black hooded sweatshirt she was wearing and kisses her cleavage while his hands still massaged her breast. He traces his spot back up to her lips. They connect again as she could feel he was beginning to grow on her knee.

"I love it… when you say… my name." He says in between kisses, reminding Gabriella slightly of when they were drunk last weekend. But now as he said it, she could tell it was full of lust and so much more meaningful. "Gab…" He moans as her hand brushes up against his growing erection that was trying to rip through his jeans. She plunges her hands through his hair as all thoughts of what Amber said

"Troy…" She says again, more loudly this time as his thumb flicks her nipple, but then he pulls his hand out from underneath her shirt and rests on her hip. Their tongues battle with each other as they were exploring the other's mouth, finding it a new adventure even though they had been in it so many other times before. But she then feels his hand that was on her hip come around to the front of her body and slowly unbuttons the button on her jean shorts.

Their eyes lock for a moment as they stop kissing. This was it. Gabriella had to make a quick decision. They stop kissing as Troy stares down into her eyes, almost asking for permission to venture somewhere he hadn't gone before. Did she want this? Her question was answered though, when she leans up and connects their lips again in a heated kiss. "Gabriella."

He smiles against her lips as he pulls down the zipper and then pulls off the shorts to reveal an extremely wet pink thong. His fingers pull down both sides of the underwear and discard them where Gabriella's shorts were. It was a good thing that it was so late, and no one else would be walking by, because then they would see a completely exposed bottom of Gabriella. A trail of fire starts as she feels his fingers slowly run up and down her folds. He flicks her clit slowly, making Gabriella throw her head back in pleasure. "Troy!" She begs for him.

He kisses her harder and she suddenly feels her body being thrown into shock as she feels a finger slip inside her. He pauses for a moment, letting Gabriella recover as she tries to push her pelvis towards his own, but found it unsuccessful. Small whimpers could be heard from her body as he begins moving slowly, in and out of her while massaging her clit with his thumb. Sensations were shooting through her body as Troy's expert hands were working magic on her. "God Gab, you're tight." He whispers in her ear as she feels another finger slip inside her.

"Oh God Troy." She says while spreading her legs wider. She grips his back while he adds a third finger. Her nerves were shooting fire from her vagina as Troy's fingers increased speed with every plunge he gave her. Her hips were buckling to his finger's beat as she couldn't help but keep moaning. With one final deeper thrust, orgasm rips through her body as she arches her back and shuts her eyes, pleasure soaring through every nerve ending. She screams his name with her head being thrown back wildly.

Once her back collapses on her, she pants heavily while suddenly feeling the sweat stick to her forehead. After finally opening her eyes, she feels Troy pulls his fingers out of her as he gently wipes her liquid on the blanket below him. She could see that his erection was now completely evident through his jeans. "You alright?" He asks her while wiping some hair that was sticking to her forehead away as he gently kisses it.

"Yea…" She says as her pants were still loud. She straightens out her beaters a little after regaining energy and sits up. Troy smiles at her as he gently kisses her lips, though she could feel that he was doing his best not to push anything further, since he was still hard. "That felt amazing."

Troy smiles at her. "Good." He says while reaching over and grabbing her panties and shorts. He hands them to her while she slips them on slowly. She then suddenly leans up and kisses him passionately, trying to show him the same love that he had just shown her.

She crawls up onto his lap and slowly traces her fingers down the front of his shirt. She grabs the own button on his pants as he suddenly pulls away from her and raises his eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

She smiles seductively at him as she pulls down his zipper and rubs her hand against him, listening to him moan against her lips. "You did that for me. Do you really think I was gonna leave it up to you to do?" She says while nodding towards his erection that was now showing as she pulls his green boxers down and wraps her small fingers around him, while he moans loudly again.

"God you're incredible." He lets out while Gabriella smiles and slowly begins to move her hand up and down his shaft, knowing she made the right decision about letting them take their relationship to the next level.


	17. First Fight

_Gabriella stood in her spot as she stared at the scene in front of her. Hot acidic tears were streaming down her face already as the two people on the bed stared back at her. Sweat was glistening from his perfect body as his popping eyes bored into her own brown. Her body felt numb as her heart broke, spilling out over the floor. Suddenly, unable to look at their almost nude bodies anymore, Gabriella turns around and runs back out the bedroom door._

"_Gabi!" She hears someone yell as she tears down the stairs of the gigantic house. How could he do this to her? They had been dating a year and a half; they had sex last weekend for God's sake! Her feet carry her through the living room until she feels someone turn her shoulder around and her grabs them. Gabriella violently tries to get away, but finds that his grip was so much stronger then she was. "Just let me explain…"_

"_There's nothing to explain Collin!" Gabriella screams with hot tears still spilling down her face. Her body was shaking as he was trying to get her to calm down. "I'm glad to see you're feeling so much better." She says, referring to the fact that Collin told her three hours ago that he had the flu so they couldn't do anything tonight. She thought she'd be the nice girlfriend, but obviously, things weren't how they seemed._

"_Gabriella please…" He says while she could see his bare chest was still glistening with sweat. He was only wearing a pair of white boxers and Gabriella could figure that if she hadn't walked in, they would probably be off by now. "Let me explain alright?"_

_Gabriella looks up into his face. She didn't want to hear an explanation, but she knew she was going to get one anyways. He sighs as she crosses her arms over her body and stares up at the man who she loved. That was probably the only reason why she did stay; otherwise she would have bolted out the door. "What's there to explain Collin? You fucking cheated!"_

_He sighs again. "Look… you're leaving in like… what four weeks?" He says and Gabriella's rage suddenly blows through the roof._

"_It's three!" She screams, noticing how little he had paid attention lately. She knew he was distracted about something lately, but she just had no idea what it was. It was obvious to her that it was the girl who was probably still naked upstairs. _

"_Ok two sorry!" He says while moving his hands down as if trying to tell her to calm down. "It's just… you're going to Albuquerque Gabi! Who knows the next time we're gonna see each other…"_

_Gabriella could feel fire running through her veins now. "We talked about this!" She screams. "You said distance didn't matter to you! That we would try to work this out!" _

_Collin sighs. "I know what I said… but I just think that maybe it's best we ease our way out of this." He says while staring at her with his gray, cold eyes that Gabriella used to think were the most beautiful things in the world. _

_This really threw Gabriella over the edge. She feels the side of her mouth twitching in anger as it seemed fire was being shot out of her nose. "Then why… the fuck… did you sleep with me… last weekend?" She says through gritted teeth that was even more scary then her yelling._

_Collin takes a step back from her for a moment. "I thought… it'd be a great way to say goodbye."_

_Gabriella's stomach drops. She gave her virginity to a guy who just wanted to say goodbye? Her small hands form into fists as her jaw clenches and she feels the hot tears stream down her face even faster. He had just grabbed her heart and squeezed everything out of it. She felt lifeless, used, cheated, stupid. "No… this is. Goodbye Collin." She says while turning around. But he quickly runs in front of her and holds out his hands to stop her._

"_Gabi… please… I don't want you to leave like this." He says desperately. "I still love you." He says in a soft voice. Gabriella laughs sarcastically, in a way that sounded disgusting. She was furious now. All he was trying to do was play with her heart._

"_You have a really fucked up way of showing it." She says while walking around him towards the door. She places one hand on the handle and hears his voice again, making her stop._

"_Gabi, you love me too, I know you do." He says while she turns around slowly. He was right, she wasn't going to deny it. But it still hurt like hell. "I know you don't want to leave the city with us like this." He says._

_Gabriella glares at him for a moment before raising her eyebrows. "You're right. I don't want to leave like this." She says but then narrows her eyes again. "But you just made me." She says in a cold voice. Her hand turns the handle as she rips it open and walks out of the door, away from Collin, forever._

* * *

"Uh! She's such a bitch!" The blonde girl exclaims while sitting on the white beach chair. Gabriella nods on her own as she feels the end of the sun's rays beating down on her. "I swear I can't take her as a roommate anymore. Zoey's stupid for making us."

It was Wednesday, and Sharpay, Taylor, and Gabriella were lying out, trying to catch the last few bars of sun before it set in the distance. Gabriella was half listening to Sharpay, half day dreaming about a blue-eyed boy who she couldn't get enough of. Ever since she and Troy took things to the next level, things got a little more complicated between the two. Sure, she wouldn't change her decision, but it was weird for her. Even though they didn't have sex, she still felt that they had connected in a whole new way then she had before.

It was scaring her to death how fast she was falling for Troy. He was incredible, there was no denying that, but just how attached she was getting to him was frightening. Gabriella was usually an independent person. But she and Troy were now attached at the hip. Sure, the first month was great, but what's going to happen at two months? When they head back to school?

"Brie… Brie wake up!" Taylor says while shaking Gabriella's shoulder. She quickly blinks and looks to her two best friends. "Are you ok? You seem really quiet lately."

Gabriella nods slowly. "I'm fine." She says in a quiet voice as she closes her eyes again. "I'm just tired." She says honestly and closes her eyes again. She was extremely tired lately, with no idea why. Maybe getting up early every morning was finally starting to take a toll on her body. Who knows. But whatever it was, she was exhausted and just wanted to relax.

They sit there for another twenty minutes before discovering that the sun was setting and they probably wouldn't get any tanner then what they were before. Gabriella stands up and packs up all of her stuff, excited to finally just relax and rest when she got back to the hotel room. "You guys are going to that bar with the guys tonight right?" Taylor asks as they walk in through the doors.

Gabriella winces at the sound of that. Troy mentioned going there yesterday, which she was all for then, but now she was just so tired she didn't want to do anything. "Yea… and I'm getting ready in your room because I can't stand five minutes with the bitch anymore. I have to get clothes first."

They make their way to the elevator and Gabriella sighs as Sharpay presses the level of her room. "I don't think I'm going." She responds while the other two look at her curiously.

"What? Why not?" Taylor asks as Gabriella shrugs.

"I'm tired, and I'm not in the mood." She says honestly. She and Troy could just stay in tonight, it wouldn't be a big deal or anything.

They finally make it to the floor as the door opens and the three girls walk out of the elevator. They walk a short distance before Sharpay puts in the room key and then lets the door open. The three of them walk in, but then suddenly hear moaning and Gabriella's eyes grow wide as she sees a naked guy on top of a girl who only had a bra and panties on. "Oh my God!" Taylor says as her mouth was dropped and Sharpay's eyes were wide.

"GET OUT!" She screams as the guy lifts his head up and looks at all three girls with a twisted smirk on his face. Amber's cheeks grow red as Gabriella couldn't help but stare at the guy's excited junk. She didn't want to look, but she felt there was no where else she could. "GET OUT NOW!" Sharpay screams while pointing at the door. Marcus gets up off of Amber and pulls on his white boxers, much to Gabriella's relief and then his jeans. He grabs his shirt and walks over to the three girls.

"Ladies." He says with another twisted smirk on his face. Gabriella does her best not to throw up at the site as he purpousfully brushes his body up against hers. She narrows her eyes as she looks behind her while he opens the door and smirks, while winking at her once before shutting the door. Her body shivers for a moment before turning back to see Amber was pulling on a pair of shorts, with her face flustered.

"You are unbelievable!" She screams as she pulls on a shirt and Gabriella looks awkwardly at Taylor. A fight was about to break out and she didn't want to be in the room at the time, but it looked like she was going to. "It's my room too!" She screams as Sharpay throws her bag down and takes a step forward.

"Are you addicted to sex or something? Because it sure as hell seems that way!" She bellows as Amber rolls her eyes and fixes her hair slightly. "You're such a slut!"

Amber flashes an angry look at her roommate. "I'm a slut! I'M a slut? You sleep with Zeke every night! Don't tell me I'm addicted to it!"

"Yea, because Zeke is my boyfriend!" Sharpay yells as she grabs a pair of bright pink jeans that were piled in a corner along with a sparkly purple and white top. "At least I don't sleep with your best friend's crush when you PROMISED you'd stay away from him!"

Gabriella's eyes suddenly shoot up. So that's what happened. Sharpay liked someone and Amber slept with him. That make complete and perfect sense as to why they hated each other. It was all coming out now, and there was no stopping it. Taylor suddenly shoots Gabriella a look, who was now extremely interested in the conversation. Amber rolls her eyes. "You still can't get over that? It was a fucking year ago Sharpay! You're dating someone else! Move on!"

Sharpay's eyes cloud over so dark they almost look black. "I did. I love Zeke but I can't get over how you're such a fucking slut!"

Amber's green eyes seem to leak with poison, as well as the words she was saying. "Everyone wanted to sleep with him. I'm sorry he chose me. I don't see you getting pissed off at the other people who did!" She yells, while Gabriella's eyes narrow. Who was this guy?

"Brie, come on let's get out of here." Taylor says while grabbing Gabriella's muscular arm. But she shrugs it off as she walks a step closer to where the two girls were arguing.

"That's because they didn't promise their best friend they wouldn't!" Sharpay screams the loudest as she lets out a large groan. She then angrily turns on her heels and looks at Gabriella and Taylor. "Girls! We're out."

She storms out of the room while Taylor seems to sigh in relief. Gabriella, on the other hand, wanted to hear more of the story. She glances back at Amber, who seemed to be flustered and then sighs while she fallows her two best friends out of the room. "Well that was… weird." Taylor says while fuming Sharpay spins around and takes in deep breaths, making Gabriella step back in shock for a moment.

"I hate her!" She says while punctuating each word that was said. Gabriella and Taylor look at each other for a moment, both scared beyond all belief at their friend's behavior. "I hope she drowns in the ocean so I never have to see her smirking face again!" She exclaims while they make their way to the elevator and Gabriella pressed the two button.

"Shar…" Taylor says in an attempt to calm her down, but she wasn't listening.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" She exclaims as the elevator doors open. They walk down the hallway with the wind playing with Gabriella's hair. She had never seen Sharpay this up in arms in the short time that she had known her. Mental note, never get on Sharpay Evans' bad side, or you will have hell to pay.

They finally reach Gabriella and Taylor's room while Taylor puts the key into the slot. She opens the door and Sharpay throws her stuff on Taylor's bed angrily. She lets out a scream that makes Gabriella actually cover her ears it was that high pitched. "Whoa, take a deep breath ok?" Taylor says while Gabriella puts her own bag down on her bed. She could feel a small headache coming on as she sits down and looks out the window, thinking about a brown-haired blue eyed boy while Sharpay seemed to have a break down.

"Can you believe her? Me a slut Tay, me!" She exclaims. "She was the one who slept with him! She was the one…"

"SHARPAY!" Taylor finally roars, getting Gabriella's attention. She turns around and looks at her two best friends. "It happened over a year ago and you have Zeke. Plus she's right! Everyone wanted to sleep with him." She says while shooting a look at Gabriella for a moment. "Amber has obviously moved on, you have moved on, and he has most defiantly moved on." She watches as Sharpay suddenly glances over to where Gabriella was sitting. Her face whitens a little as she looks back at Taylor. "You can be pissed at her but stop worrying about what happened last year. It will only cause drama."

She didn't want Sharpay to blow up at her, but her mind was circling. Everyone wanted to sleep with him? Troy told her that he never slept with Amber, but this was sounding way to fishy for Gabriella's liking. No. Troy said nothing happened, so nothing happened. She trusted him. "Who was the guy?"

Both Sharpay and Taylor immediately whip their heads around and look at her. Sharpay shrugs as she cross her arms, trying to play it cool. "Some guy from the basketball camp." She says while looking everywhere but at Gabriella. Gabriella feels her mouth open to say something, but then suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"I got it." Taylor says while making her way to the door. Gabriella looks at Sharpay curiously. "Uh, hey guys!"

Gabriella rips her eyes away from Sharpay and looks to see the Zeke, Chad, Jason and Troy walk into the room. Chad kisses Taylor soundlessly while Zeke puts an arm around still fuming Sharpay. As Troy walks over to Gabriella with a smile on his face, her mind was second guessing itself. He said he never slept with her. She had to trust that. "Hey." He says while kisses her lightly on the lips. Gabriella barely gives him any pressure back as she looks at his body up and down, analyzing him.

"So… do you girls wanna get changed then we can head out?" Zeke asks while Taylor nods and grabs a pair of jeans and a top while Sharpay continues to let off steam. Gabriella looks up into her boyfriend's face. She didn't want to go tonight. She just wanted to sleep all of this off. To clear her head. For once, she didn't want to be around Troy.

"Actually… I'm really tired. So I'm gonna stay behind." She says while Chad raises his eyebrows at her.

"Brie, you can't not go." He says while Troy looks down at her with curiousity in his eyes.

"Yes I can. I don't wanna go." She says while glancing at Troy again. "I'm really tired and I have a headache. I don't want to slow you guys down." She says while hearing the door close as Taylor walks in the bathroom to change. "You guys have fun."

Troy nods as he looks back at the guys and Sharpay. "We'll catch up with you guys later."

Gabriella's eyes shoot up and lock with his. She didn't want Troy to stay behind, at all. She wanted to be by herself. "It's fine Troy… you go ahead. I'm just going to bed when you leave anyways." She says while staring up into his piercing blue eyes that narrow in confusion.

He crosses his arms. "It's no big deal." He says with a shrug. "I'll just stay and keep you company."

Gabriella shakes her head furiously. He wasn't getting the hint. Why wasn't he getting the hint? "No Troy… you go out with them. I know you want to, so go ahead." She says slowly while glancing back at the other people in the room to see that Taylor was now changed and Sharpay was in the bathroom. They were all staring at the couple intently; probably because they had never seen the two of them fight. That was because they hadn't gotten into a fight before.

Troy narrows his eyes again. "Maybe I want to stay with you." He says, she could hear the tone of irritation in his voice.

Gabriella stands up and straightens out her top. "Well maybe I want you to go." She says with her own voice lacing with irritation.

Troy's jaw becomes harder with every second that goes by. "Why are you making this difficult?" He asks while she crosses her own arms. "I wanna stay with you alright?" He says while Gabriella shakes her head, her own jaw set as well.

"Well maybe I don't want you to stay!" She says loudly as then the room suddenly grows quiet. The piercing blue eyes stare down into Gabriella's deep brown. She knew it was stupid to have their first fight over something this dumb, but she was just very confused and needed time to herself. Troy finally looks away from her as he throws his hands up and shakes his head.

"Fine. Let's get the fuck out of here." Troy says while walking towards the door. Gabriella hears it open and then slam loudly. Her eyes look up to see that everyone else was staring at her with confusion written on their faces.

"We'll uhh… see you later Brie." Taylor says as she watches everyone give her one weird look, before following Troy out the door. She sighs and falls back onto her bed. She and Troy had just had their first fight.

* * *

Three hours later, Gabriella was staring blankly at the TV. She couldn't sleep, knowing that Troy was probably getting hammered because he was pissed off at her. She hadn't heard from him since he left and was starting to get a little worried. But a sigh erupts from her throat as she runs a hand through her hair slowly. Over the past hour, she had finally thought about everything that occurred to her today and came up with one solution. If Troy said that they didn't do anything, that's what happened. It looked suspicious enough, but she had to trust him, or this wasn't going to work.

She sighs as she stares at her phone that was sitting on her bed next to her. She just wanted it to ring, so he could call her and everything would be ok. But she knew that wasn't going to happen. Troy seemed like the kind of guy who would drink his problems away. She just prayed that he didn't meet up with some sexy Hispanic local or something.

But almost as though her prayers were answered, her phone begins to vibrate and her ring tone goes off. She immediately picks it up, not even bothering to look at the number. Her fingers flip it open eagerly as she puts it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Gabi?" Relief spreads through out her body as she closes her eyes and thanks a higher power that her prayers were answered. "Hey you there?"

"Yea." She responds. "Yea I'm here."

"Look I'm sorry." Troy's voice echoes in her ear. He sounded sober enough and it didn't sound like there was the noise in the background from the bar. Where was he anyways? "If you wanted to stay by yourself, it's no big deal. I didn't mean to snap." He says as she could almost hear him being out of breath.

"I'm sorry too." She says while playing with the bottom of her gray shorts she was wearing as pajamas. "It wasn't that I didn't want to be with you." She lies through her teeth as she says this. "But I just wanted some time by myself. I didn't mean to be a bitch either."

She could hear him chuckle slightly on the other side of the phone and could imagine his perfect smile. "It's cool." He says. "So… do you still need your alone time?" He asks while Gabriella smiles as the sound of his voice back to it's normal level and sound.

"I'm not going out to the bar…" She says while she hears him chuckle on the other side again.

"Don't worry, you don't have to." He says while she raises her eyebrows, even though he couldn't see her.

"Wait… what?" She asks but suddenly hears a click. "Troy? Troy!" He hung up on her! How could he hang up on her! They had just resolved their problem and he hung up on her! But suddenly, she hears a knock on the door and a small smile breaks out onto her face. She stands up and walks towards the door, not even bothering to look in the peephole. "You hung up on me!" She exclaims while she opens the door and sees Troy on the other side, fingering the phone in his hand.

"Sorry." He mumbles while walking in and placing his hands on her waist, while bending over. His lips connect with hers in a heated kiss that neither one of them wanted to let go of. Gabriella wraps her arms around his neck while he picks up her lower body by her butt and carries her over to her bed and gently lays her down. "I… didn't… wanna… waste… time."

Gabriella rolls her eyes as she looks up into his and smiles. "How'd you know I'd forgive you?" She asks while he smirks against her lips and then connects them with his again.

"Cuz if you were missing me the way I was missing you, you wouldn't have lasted much longer." He mumbles as Gabriella smiles and kisses him again. They had survived their first fight. It had to come one of these times, and actually, she wasn't regretting it.

Because the make up was tasting ever so sweet.


	18. One Day

"Does 'Taylor's going to be back in fifteen minutes' mean anything to you?" He could hear her voice yell as he angrily pulls his boxers back up and then his jeans. Troy practically shoves the zipper up his crotch as Gabriella angrily stares at him. He glares at her back while feeling his throbbing member through his jeans as he runs a hand through his hair. "Troy… I said that we couldn't do this now!" She exclaims as Troy stands up from the bed and glances back at her with his piercing blue eyes turning darker.

It was all they seemed to be doing now. For the past three days that passed since their first argument, it seemed to set off a trigger. Now… it was almost a routine at the overplayed circus. They would make out, and then something would happen to cause them to stop, so they'd get distracted. One of them would piss the other off, so they would be sent into an argument. One of them would storm away; usually it was Troy although Gabriella did it once as well, then two or three hours later, they would find themselves back on one of their beds, which usually led to Troy getting a hand or blow job from Gabriella or him fingering her. Then, about twelve hours later, the same vicious cycle would start again.

"I'm sorry I wanna be with my girlfriend right now." Troy exclaims while feeling Gabriella's deep brown eyes burn wholes into his back. "I'm sorry my girlfriend called me to come over, since her roommate was out." Troy says while her eyes narrow a little.

"I told you we could just hang out and she wouldn't be gone that long! But can you last five minutes without being horny?" She asks while standing up and Troy rolls his eyes.

"I'm sorry! I'll try to stop being a guy." He says angrily while watching Gabriella pace back and forth.

"It's all you can think about lately!" She yells as Troy leans up against the wall, trying to calm his anger. "You know, we've been dating a month and a week Troy! I didn't first get fingered by Collin until nine months!"

This makes Troy's nerves run on end. It was almost an unwritten rule. Never, EVER compare your current boyfriend to your ex boyfriend in bed. That was a one way ticket to getting the guy extremely pissed off. "I'm sorry I'm not a pansy and wanna wait that long. I'm sorry I want my girlfriend. I'm sorry I'm not Collin!" Troy says while pushing himself off the wall and walking over to her, getting straight up in her face. She doesn't back down, which almost makes Troy anger bubble over even more. "I'm sorry you WANT me to be him!"

"I never said that!" She screams as him so hard that Troy actually has to take a step back to get out of her blow. "I don't want you to be anyone else but I'm so sick of this shit!" She exclaims while throwing her hands up in the air to add to the dramatic effect.

He could feel fire running through his veins with every word that she spoke. He angrily shakes his head. "So sick of what shit?" He yells as Gabriella throws her arms up in the air again.

"This! Us fighting!" She exclaims while sitting down on the bed. Her voice wasn't screaming anymore which gave Troy a chance to just breathe in. She places her head in her hands and Troy suddenly feels a little guilty for yelling before. She had tears glazed over in her eyes as he sighs and walks over to her. "Everything was perfect until that stupid argument."

Troy sighs again and bends down to see that the tears were starting to fall. He was still angry, but seeing her like this made him soften so much. At least this might end up better then every other argument, seeing as one of them didn't storm off this time. He kneels down in front of her and looks up to see that her eyes were red from the tears. "Everyone fights." He says in a soft voice as she looks down into his piercing blue eyes.

"But it's all we do nowadays Troy!" She says as Troy lifts up the pad of his thumb and wipes the stray tear that was coming down now. "I'm sick of it." She says softly as Troy grabs her hand that was lying limply in her lap and laces their fingers.

"Maybe… we're both just stressed or something." He says trying to figure out the reason for their behavior. Troy knew he wasn't that stressed out, but he was just trying to come up with this new thing they were going through. He hated every minute of it, but couples fight right?

Gabriella looks away from him at that moment and Troy places his hand on the side to her cheek to make her look at him. "I don't know." She says while Troy gently kisses her forehead, no longer mad at what they were yelling about a mere four minutes ago. "And I don't compare you to Collin ok?" She says as he sighs and nods.

"I know… I was just pissed." He says while leaning his forehead towards her. "And I don't think you're prude."

Gabriella nods. "I know." She whispers and looks up into his piercing blue eyes, making Troy's heart melt. "I'm sorry." She says while he gives her a small smile.

"Me too." He says while leaning down and capturing her lips. He places a hand on her cheek and does his best to fight the temptation to lean back and kiss her deeper. She pulls away and look at him.

"Maybe… we should just take a breather." She says as Troy's heart flips. No, she couldn't mean a break could she? But she giggles a little while seeing the panic that erupts on his face. "Not like that." She assures him and he lets out a sigh with relief. "I mean, we've been seeing each other for practically every day in the past two weeks. Why don't we just do our own thing tomorrow? No calls, no texts, nothing."

Troy hated this idea. He wanted to be with her, not apart from her. But was what she was saying true? Were they really spending too much time together? It was a possibility, since they were joined at the hip ever since she first came here, but would one day of not being together really solve three days of fighting? "Gabi… I don't know."

Gabriella sighs as she looks at him. "I think it's best for both of us." She says while he sighs as well and looks at their laced hands.

"If that's what you want." He says while nodding his head that still was against her forehead. It shouldn't have been that big of a deal. A day without your girlfriend? Most people could get by. But he and Gabriella had seen each other basically everyday since the start of the summer, and when he didn't see her he had at least called her, or texted her. This might be torture.

"You should go." Gabriella says softly while biting her bottom lip in the cute way that he loved. She looks up into his eyes, and he captures that moment by leaning in and connecting their lips together. Gabriella wraps her arms around his neck while he pulls her into his lap, her straddling his waist. He licks her bottom lip, begging for entrance as she opens her mouth to him.

After another moment, Gabriella pulls away as Troy closes his eyes, never wanting to leave this moment but knew that Gabriela wouldn't be satisfied until they stopped fighting. They stare into each other's eyes for a moment, with Gabriella playing with the hairs on the back of his neck, before Troy pulls away from her and leans down to kiss her on the forehead.

"I'll see ya." He says while their hands managed to find their way connected again. He reaches down and gently kisses her on the lips. He knew they were over exaggerating things a little bit. Ok, a lot a bit, but it was hard when they had seen each other everyday.

"Bye Troy." She whispers in her sweet, angelic voice as he walks towards the door and opens it.

Once stepping outside, he hears the white door shut behind him and he lets out a breath. Why was this so difficult? How could he get this attached to a girl this fast? He starts walking down the open hallway, letting his mind wander. Why was he feeling like he couldn't live tomorrow? He walks down the single flight of stairs and then out the back door of her hotel. He places his hands in his pockets as the setting sun was in the background. It also sucked that the one day Gabriella picked for them not to have contact with each other happened to be Sunday. He couldn't even have basketball to take it off his mind.

"Hey Troy!" He distantly hears a voice echo in his head, but it wasn't processing who it was. He randomly looks up at waves at something, then looks back down at the sand and places his hand back into his pocket. "Who died?"

Troy finally realizes that he was standing in front of Brittany and Amber, with Angie and Melissa walking behind them, looking extremely bored. It took a moment for him to realize that Angie had just asked the question, while the other three girls were looking at him hungrily. "What? Oh, no one." He says, looking at the girls and suddenly found himself comparing them to Gabriella. How Amber's shirt was way to low on her, something that Gabriella could pull off way better then her. How Brittany's hair looked fake compared to Gabriella's beautiful long dark hair. How Angie's smile was nothing to the sweet one of Gabriella. And how Melissa's voice wasn't as perfect as his girlfriend's was.

"You sure look like it." Brittany says while taking a step forward towards him, looking up and down. "Did Gabriella do something?"

Troy looks at her strangely. "No… she didn't." He technically lies, but he suddenly hated the thought of someone else saying something bad about his girlfriend. "She didn't do anything." He says while feeling something click in his heart. He couldn't stop thinking about her, all he wanted to do was be with her, he would never let anyone say anything bad about her. His heart rose just hearing her name. He never wanted to look at another girl besides her again. These were the symptoms. He looks up at the girls who were looking at him strangely.

"Troy… honey… you're scaring me." Amber says while placing a hand on his arm. He suddenly breaks out into a grin as he nods.

"Yeah… I'm great." He says as he nods at all the girls. "I'm amazing actually." He says while shaking his head. "Thanks!" He says while running through the four of them, not caring how stupid he looked right now. The girls turn around all with shocked looks on their faces as he runs in the other direction. His eyes look up to the hotel where she was in right now. He takes out his phone and flips it open, immediately starting to dial the number he was so familiar with now.

Wait. She said they needed a break from each other. His phone closes as he sighs angrily, cursing his horny self for getting into a fight with her a few minutes before. He looks up at the hotel again and sighs angrily. He would have to wait to tell her. But he couldn't wait! He had to tell her now!

Another sigh erupts from his mouth as he turns the other way and walks towards his own hotel. He walks inside and goes up to his floor. Even though he was mad he couldn't tell her now, he still had a goofy grin on his face that couldn't be wiped off. When he gets to his hotel room, he slides the room key in and walks into his room, which was hotter then what it usually was. Troy throws his key on the counter and continues to smile as he sits on his double size bed.

"Hey… how's Brie?" Chad asks while walking out of the bathroom with his hair semi-wet and steam was coming out as well, showing Troy the source of the heat. Troy looks at him with a smile beaming on his face.

"She's great. We got into a fight." He says while still smiling. Chad looks at him like he was crazy as he sits down on his own bed.

"Again? What is that, the twentieth one this week?" He asks while grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. Troy nods, still with his goofy grin on his face.

"Yeah… something like that. But she said we should give each other space just for tomorrow. You know, no calls, texts, seeing each other, nothing." He says, still grinning like a little kid on Christmas.

"What? That sucks!" Chad says while shaking his head. "I'd be pissed!" He says while Troy nods.

"I am." He says between his smile and Chad looks at him like he was on drugs.

"Then why the hell do you look like you just got laid?" He asks while Troy looks at him, still beaming like a little kid.

"Because…" He says while looking at his best friend. "I love her."

Chad's eyes grow wide. "You what?" He yells while his mouth was hanging open five feet.

Troy smiles back at him. "I love her." He repeats as Chad still looks at him like he was insane, crazy, on crack, or maybe even all three. But Troy didn't care. He knew he loved her. Yeah, they had only been together for a month and a week, but he had never felt this way about someone else before. The time they had spent together was probably as much time as a normal couple would spend in three of four months. He loved her, he truly loved her and there was nothing anyone else could say to change his mind.

"You've only been dating for like a month!" Chad exclaims while throwing his hands up in the air for the dramatic effect. "Dude, you didn't even know she existed three months ago!"

Troy shakes his head. "I don't care. I love her. I can't even describe it." He says while still smiling. "I love her." He says, knowing it sounded sweeter then anything he had ever said before.

Chad sighs as he looks at the TV. "Whatever man, if that's how you feel." He says while Troy continues to smile, knowing that the second it turned midnight tomorrow night, he was running over to Gabriella's to tell her.

* * *

Gabriella was sitting in Sharpay's room, playing with the phone in her hands. One more hour, that's all it was. One more hours and she could see him again. It was now almost a game to her, see how long she could go without breaking. But she had to do this, because if she did then them seeing each other would be so much sweeter. Taylor and Sharpay had offered to take breaks from their own boyfriends to have a girl's day with her, so she wouldn't be driven crazy. After a day of laying out in the sun and getting tan, they were now in Sharpay's room, watching some sappy movie on TV while Sharpay was doing her nails. Amber was out with Marcus, so they didn't have to worry about her making stupid comments to the girls.

"Brie, can you throw the clear stuff?" Sharpay asks while Gabriella suddenly shakes her head out of her trance and looks down to see that nail polish was sitting in front of her on the bed. She smiles and nods and then tosses the stuff to Sharpay. This was getting harder by each second that went by.

"So… have you gone through Troy withdrawals yet?" Taylor asks who was sitting on the same bed as Gabriella. She smiles as she looks down at her phone again.

"Yeah, I'm dying over here." She says while Sharpay laughs a little and glances at her.

"Welcome to the world of love." She says while Gabriella smiles. "I don't think I'd have to will power to do that." She says while Gabriella shrugs.

"I don't think I'm gonna last much longer." She says while looking down at the clock again, praying that it would move faster.

"Well, try not to think about it." Taylor says while glancing away from the TV and at the darker girl. "What do you think about the routine Camilla wants us to perform for the final showcase?"

Gabriella glances at her and Sharpay. They had just learned a new routine yesterday, that Gabriella had fallen in love with itself. But a thought crosses her mind as that one passes. What else did she love besides dancing now? A better question, WHO else did she love? "It's gonna be a bitch to learn." Sharpay exclaims as she closes the nail polish and Gabriella shrugs.

"It's not gonna be that bad." She says while running a hand through her hair. Did she love Troy? She certainly found it hard to live without him right now, but she didn't fall in love with Collin until later in their relationship. She had only known Troy for about two months now! Was it even possible to fall in love with someone that fast?

Sharpay rolls her eyes. "Coming from Miss Perfect." She says while Gabriella shakes her head.

"I'm not perfect." She says while Taylor rolls her eyes.

"Honey, you are." She exclaims. "You're the best one on the team, even Amber has to admit that."

Sharpay shivers at the sound of her roommate's name. "She sure as hell better not expect to take that solo. If she does I swear I'm pushing her out the window." She says while shaking her head. "Uh… the bitch!"

Almost as if on cue, the door suddenly clicks and Gabriella hears giggling. She looks up at the door and suddenly finds herself wanting to throw up. One of the guy's hand was on the girl's butt while the other was up her shirt. Her hand was pulling him into the room by his shirt as Gabriella couldn't help but stare at the two. "Marcus… you're so bad…"

"Hello!" Sharpay says and suddenly Amber's head pulls away from Marcus'. Gabriella was pretty sure that this was the first time the two girls had said anything to each other since their fight last week. Amber stares at them for a moment, while Marcus' head was in her neck, sucking dangerously.

"Oh… you're here." She says while looking Sharpay up and down, then turning towards Gabriella and Taylor. "Do you mind?" She asks in a what sounded like trying to be sweet voice, but it didn't match her body language. Even Gabriella was getting pissed off by Amber's behavior towards Sharpay.

"What? No!" She says in reference to Amber asking them to leave. "You get out!" She says while Marcus finally lets go of Amber's mouth.

"You had the room, now it's my turn. My needs are more… necessary." Amber says while Gabriella suddenly feels a pair of eyes on her. She looks up to see that Marcus was smirking at her, in his weird way that made her skin crawl.

"Come on Shar." Gabriella says, not wanting to be in the same room as this guy anymore. "Let's just go." She gets up from the bed as Sharpay glances at her, then shakes her head.

"No!" Sharpay uses her rich spoiled side as she stands up and faces Amber. "No… you can go to Marcus'."

Amber rolls her eyes. "Listen to Gabriella." She says while Marcus was still staring at Gabriella creepily. Gabriella tries to look away but couldn't when she say him lick his lips slightly, almost as if telling her he wanted a taste of her. That was it, she wanted out.

"Sharpay, Let's go!" She exclaims while Taylor stands up as well.

"Shar come on." Taylor says, glancing at the look Marcus was giving Gabriella and then back at her friend.

"NO!" Sharpay bellows as she finally turns to Amber. This was it, this was what ever fight was leading up to and Gabriella knew it. Tensions were running high and it was a replay of what happened last week. This was not going to turn out pretty. "I'm sick of you thinking your better then everyone else! I'm sick of you bossing everyone around! I'm sick of your sex, I'm sick of the way you dress, I'm sick of you!" She exclaims as Amber's face turns twisted in anger.

"Here we go again. When are you gonna get it? You can't keep bringing up the same arguments over and over again. It makes you sound stupid." She says while looking Sharpay up and down for a moment. "Well… more so then usual."

Sharpay's brown eyes cloud over as she takes a step forward towards the brunette, while Gabriella and Taylor suddenly realize they had to do something. They both grab one of Sharpay's arms and hold her back. "Come on Shar, she's not worth it!" Gabriella says, not even realizing that slipped out of her mouth until it was out.

Amber's anger suddenly turns to Gabriella. "What was that Montez?" She asks and Gabriella narrows her eyes, but she doesn't say anything. In the distance, her ring tone goes off, but she wasn't concerned about it right now. She didn't even realize it was midnight. "That's what I thought." She says when Gabriella doesn't respond.

"Come on Shar." Taylor says while starting to drag Sharpay out, but somehow, Sharpay manages to wiggle loose. Taking the extra weight off, Gabriella suddenly feels herself being thrown to the floor as Sharpay rips out of her gasp and jumps on the unexpected brunette. Her cell phone goes off again, but she still couldn't hear it. All she was worried about right now was getting Sharpay off of Amber.

"You bitch!" Sharpay screams as Gabriella could see her hand connect with Amber's face. Marcus was standing off to the side, smirking slightly while Gabriella narrows her eyes, and thinking about what a pig he was. But she quickly shakes her head and tries to grab her friend's arm. She couldn't believe how immature and stupid they were both acting, but it must have been a year of hate built up coming out right now.

"Sharpay, stop it!" Gabriella says while she and Taylor manage to get the blonde off. Gabriella runs over to the other side to grab Amber, since she was suddenly lunging towards the blonde. Gabriella had her elbows as she struggled in front of her.

"It was one guy!" Taylor yells as Sharpay continues to struggle. "One guy neither of you two like since you both have boyfriends and he has a fucking girlfriend!" She screams.

"But it wasn't just any guy!" Sharpay screams.

Amber laughs sarcastically. "He came to me Evans! It's not my fault he was wasted and came to me!"

"You were sober!" Sharpay screams as Amber laughs sarcastically again.

"It was Troy Bolton! You can't say no to Troy Bolton!"


	19. Hurting

"It was Troy Bolton! You can't say no to Troy Bolton!"

Gabriella's body was suddenly sent into shock. Her limbs become numb as she suddenly drops Amber's arms, not wanting to touch the skin her boyfriend had. She doesn't even feel her body take a step back, nor see Sharpay and Taylor's eyes grow wide. She didn't see Amber's body lunge towards Sharpay again as Gabriella runs into the wall next to the bed. Her eyes were wide as her mouth hung open a little, processing what the brunette had just screamed. He lied.

"Amber! Get off!" Sharpay's voice could be heard as Gabriella stares at Amber's hand as it reaches back and tries to slap Sharpay again. Taylor tries to get in between them as Gabriella could stop feeling numb. He lied to her.

"Stop it!" Taylor yells while desperately looking at Gabriella, who couldn't see it. She couldn't feel anything. "Gabriella!" Taylor begs desperately as Gabriella's eyes look up emotionlessly. She could see the brunette trying to get at the blonde who was staring at Gabriella with concern, but she doesn't make any movement to help her best friend. He lied.

"Babe! Babe stop!" Marcus finally steps in and grabs his girlfriend for the first time since they had walked in the room. Amber continues to glare at Sharpay, unaware of the dancer who was standing against the wall with her face emotionless and pale. "Babe, it's not even worth it ok? We'll just leave." He says while turning around and smirking at Gabriella one more time, who doesn't even notice it. He lied.

"So now you leave!" Sharpay screams as Amber sighs and relaxes in Marcus' arms. Taylor's eyes were now on Gabriella with concerned filled in them, but Gabriella didn't notice. All that was running through her mind was the image of the girl in front of her with her clothes off and her boyfriend's perfect body thrusting himself inside her. He lied to her.

"Let's go." Amber finally says while turning around one more time. She looks at Gabriella with a raised eyebrow, not comprehending what had just came out as the deep brown eyes finally look up and connect with the piercing green. Gabriella suddenly feels her body again as anger rushes through her veins. Amber starts to walk out of the room with Marcus' hand in hers as Gabriella could feel her knuckles tighten and turn white. He lied.

The door slams and Sharpay looks up at Gabriella, along with Taylor. The blonde takes a small step forward as Gabriella's eyes that had turned dark lock with hers. "Brie… I can explain."

Gabriella cell phone goes off again but she didn't hear it. She takes one step forward, with poison seeping through every pore in her body as she narrows her eyes. "He lied." She says through gritted teeth.

With that, she suddenly didn't want to be in the room with either girl at the moment. So she turns on her heels and walks towards the door. Her hand grabs the doorknob angrily as she rips it open and suddenly hears a "Let her go." Come from inside the room. Gabriella's lip was twitching slightly as her eyes cast over a black look to them.

She wasn't pissed that he slept with her. She wasn't pissed that he was inside of her. She wasn't pissed that he went further with her then he did with Gabriella. It happened before they had even known each other, so she didn't care. What was making the atomic bomb explode inside was the fact that he lied. He straight up lied to her and there was absolutely no way around it. He told her he never slept with her. That was complete bullshit.

Gabriella slams her fist against the button on the elevator and immediately the doors open. It was almost as if a storm was behind her. It was almost as if an earthquake was echoing with every step that she took in her fury. It was like the glass on the walls was breaking with every step that she took, making fire come out of the lights. The elevator abruptly stops at the second floor and the doors open up.

Her eyes rise from the position that they were looking down and suddenly she feels like she could have breathed fire. Standing in the hallway, with the wind playing with his hair gently, was the one person she never wanted to see again. A smile grows on his perfect lips, but it looks twisted to Gabriella. Her jaw was set as her eyes were completely black, with no hope of color ever returning to them. "Gab! God finally! I thought you died!"

She watches as he runs to her and wraps his arms around her thin body. But as soon as he does, it was almost as though acid was poured onto her body at the spots he touched. She immediately pushes him off of her with the wind carrying him. He stumbles back for a moment, confusion written on his face as Gabriella's eyes narrow even more. "Don't touch me!" She says with venom laced in her voice.

Troy's eyes suddenly become pained in shock. He stands up fully again while Gabriella could feel her hands shaking in anger. "Wait… what?"

Gabriella turns immediately on her heels and starts running towards the fastest exit, the stairs. She doesn't even glance back to see Troy watch her for a moment before chasing after her. But she hears other footsteps on the stair well as she tries to get as far away as she possibly could. She didn't want to see him, nor hear him, nor have anything to do with him. "Stay away from me Troy!" She screams as she leaves the stair well and breaks out into the lobby.

Her face suddenly grows even more anger as Troy runs around her and stops in front of her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell is going on?" He asks with confusion written on his face. Gabriella laughs sarcastically at how stupid he was for not knowing.

"What's going on? What's going on?!" She asks hysterically as she could feel her body almost radiating anger. "You're a fucking bastard Troy Bolton!"

Troy's face immediately drops and turns into pain itself. His normally glowing features seemed to loose all their color as he stares back at her. "What?" He asks in a small voice that was so adorable but only made Gabriella get even madder, if that was possible.

"You fucking lied to me!" She screams, hearing the echoes in the huge lobby as people turn to look at her. "You lied to my face!"

Troy's body suddenly stiffens as realization dawns on his face. That sends Gabriella's anger through the roof. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "Gab…"

"I don't even care that you slept with her!" She screams as Troy's face grows wide in shock. He was trying desperately to keep her calm but she didn't care if the entire world looked at her. "You LIED to be! What else have you been fucking lying about?"

"I didn't want to hurt you." Troy says in a small voice. "I was completely smashed and…"

"I DON'T CARE!" She bellows, making Troy take a step back. Her eyes were completely black and didn't seem to ever turn back as her hand was shaking uncontrollably. "I don't care anymore Troy, I'm done!" She screams while trying to turn on her heels again.

"No, no no…" Troy says while running in front of her, tears glossing up in his eyes as Gabriella's were dry and hard. "Please Gabriella… just let me explain ok? I know I hurt you…"

Gabriella laughs an evil laugh that didn't sound like her own. "Hurt me Troy? HURT ME? Don't even talk to me!"

"Gabriella please… don't do this." He says begging her. "I'm so sorry!"

"You are unbelievable!" Gabriella screams. Now, everyone was staring at the couple. Gabriella could almost feel the vein stick out on the top of her head. She couldn't stop being furious, even though a part of her so desperately wanted to cave and just fall into Troy's arms like it was no big deal. But she couldn't do that. If he had lied about this, what else could he lie about in the future? Where he was? Who he was with? What if he cheated on her?

"Look, Gabi, I'm sorry alright?" He says trying to hush her voice, making Gabriella's anger sky rocket again. She didn't want to be quiet, she wanted to scream and tell him how he lost her trust, and he wasn't gonna get it back. "I didn't mean…"

"You didn't mean to? Well guess what Troy, you did!" She screams and angrily turns on her heels towards the stair well again. She opens the door leading there and suddenly hears a yell that makes her stop.

"Gabriella… please!" He begs and she turns around, fire shooting out of her nose as her eyes narrow on Troy standing in the middle of the lobby looking at her desperately.

"Stay away from me!" She screams as she then steps inside the stair well and lets the door create a barrier between them, with the tears that had been held back suddenly fall down her face, not believing this actually just happened.

* * *

Troy's eyes were wide open. They glance at the clock sitting in the middle of the two beds and sighs. 5:05. The alarm would go off in ten minutes. Ten minutes he would have to start his day. Ten minutes and he would have to face reality. Ten minutes seemed way to short for Troy's liking.

He couldn't stop thinking about the events that happened the night before. How could be so stupid in thinking that she wouldn't find out? She danced with Amber, they did things as a team with Amber, and of course it would come out. He couldn't even know why he lied to her in the first place. Maybe it was just the fact that he cared about her so much and didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want her to think less of him because of this.

'Great job Bolton, look where it's got you now' He thinks to himself while sighing. Why was he such an idiot? The one thing that actually mattered to him for once, he let slip through his fingers. He was a complete idiot, and there as nothing he could possibly do to fix this now.

He suddenly hears a beeping that echoes throughout the room. He sighs as Chad stirs beside him and sits up. Troy closes his eyes, pretending that he didn't hear the alarm. Pretending that Gabriella didn't find out he slept with Amber last night. Pretending that none of this was happening and he would fall back twenty four hours were he could just sleep. "Dude… get up!" Chad groggily says while Troy shakes his head while his eyes were still closed.

"I'm sick… I can't get up." Troy lies as he hears Chad sigh as the weight shifts on the other bed and Chad must have gotten up.

"You can't hide in here man." Chad says while Troy continues to keep his eyes closed.

"Yes I can." He informs his best friend and shakes his head.

"Dude. Come on, basketball will be good for you." He says while Troy finally opens his eyes. Usually he thought that basketball would be the only way to chill him out, but it was the very last thing he wanted to do right now. Troy hears the door close and the shower start running as he walks over to the bag of food and grabs breakfast, even though eating was the last thing he wanted to do.

After Chad finally gets out, Troy was already in his basketball shorts and shirt with out even taking a shower. He didn't care if he smelled, looked like crap, or anything like that. He didn't care at all, since it seemed that he was walking around in a shell, his mind watching him from someplace else. "You look like shit." Chad comments, probably referring to the bed head hair that Troy had along with the fact that he barely got an hour of sleep last night.

"Whatever." Troy responds, feeling his heart break with every moment that went by.

Chad sighs as he picks up his gym bag and Troy grabs his own red one. "Give it a day dude, then you guys will be fucking again." He says while opening the door leading outside for Troy, who was still walking as though he was numb. "You guys have been fighting all week, it will be fine.

Troy shakes his head while he runs a hand though his bed head. "No it won't. You didn't see the look on her face. She hates me." Troy informs them as they walk towards the elevator.

"She doesn't hate you." Chad tries to cheer his depressed best friend up but Troy knew that there was absolutely nothing that would work. "Just try to take your mind off it ok?" He says while patting Troy on the back and watching as the elevator doors open and they step inside.

"That's not gonna happen." Troy says honestly while leaning his head against the wall, punishing himself for his stupidity.

* * *

"Come on Montez! Pick it up!" Camilla's voice echoes in Gabriella's ear from a distant. She couldn't comprehend the fan, or the leap that the girls were doing for the final showcase. She didn't understand anything that was going on right now. The only thing she could think about was the lying gorgeous boy that couldn't be taken off her mind right now.

"Gabriella, go left." Melissa whispers as Gabriella finally looks at herself in the mirror that was reflecting back at her. She looked awful. Her hair was a complete mess, she had absolutely no make up on right now, and her skin looked greasy and sticky since she hadn't even bothered to wash her face this morning. She could barely function, and couldn't actually believe she had been able to get up from a very sleepless night last night.

"MONTEZ!" A woman's voice yells as Gabriella suddenly realizes the music stopped playing. Everyone was looking at her as the Hispanic woman walks towards her, with an annoyed look on her face. "I don't know what the hell your problem is today but pick it up or you're sitting out!" Camilla yells while Gabriella's face turns a bright shade of red. She couldn't stop dancing. If she did then there was no way she would be able to get by this day. She had to focus. She had to channel all of her anger into this one routine. "Alright get on the wall, we're going one at a time."

Gabriella walks over to the wall with out waiting for anyone else. Her eyes turn around and she suddenly narrows them as she sees the thin brunette walking towards her as well. She wanted to rip out of hair and burn it, along with ripping off that stupid smirk that was on her face and her smooth demeanor. She wanted to hurt Amber for making her feel this pain. "What the hell is your problem today?" The brunette asks while Gabriella could feel her eyes narrow. If Amber had no idea what was bothering her, then she was completely stupid.

"Evans, you're up first." Sharpay walks out into the middle of the studio as Gabriella's face softens a little. She wasn't mad at Sharpay, at all. It was weird to think this girl who was so in love with Zeke actually really liked her boyfriend last year, but she wasn't angry at her for it. Although, she hadn't talked to the blonde yet today, she still wasn't mad.

"Try not to think about it." She suddenly hears another voice say as she sees Taylor standing next to her. She had barely talked to Taylor this morning, but she wasn't angry at her either.

"I can't help it." She whispers back as they watch Sharpay's body move gracefully in the studio. "He lied to me."

"He was trying to protect you." Taylor informs her while Gabriella looks away.

"I don't care. He lied to my face. What else do you think he's going to lie to me about?" She asks the question that was on her mind all day as she sighs while the music stops.

"Whitman! Go!" Camilla's voice yells as Gabriella narrows her eyes again to see the brunette walk out like she was better then everyone else. God, she hated her. She hoped she'd fall and break her leg, so she would have to get sent home and she wouldn't have to see her again.

"Hey…" Sharpay says slowly but Gabriella doesn't even notice as the brunette starts to move. Gabriella was praying that she'd screw up, trip, fall and die. But her eyes finally look back at the blonde who looked scared that Gabriella was going to blow up at her. "Brie, I didn't…"

"Don't worry about it." Gabriella says while her eyes lock back on to see that Amber stubbles a little after a leap. Yes. That was good for Gabriella. "You didn't do anything wrong. You were allowed to like him, I didn't even know him."

"I know… but I should have told you." Sharpay says but Gabriella shakes her head.

"No you shouldn't. He should have." She says with poison in her voice as the music suddenly stops.

"Good. Montez you're up!" Gabriella's suddenly takes steps forward, all of the sound was drawn out from the world as she and Amber make eye contact with each other. They take steps forward, while Gabriella purposely bumps shoulders with her, trying to cause as much pain to this girl as possible, even though she was really just taking her anger on Troy out on this girl.

Gabriella starts in her spilts position as she closes her eyes and focuses. Just take the anger out now. The music starts as she could feel adrenaline pumping through her body. She felt like she was watching herself as this beautiful piece was coming out right now. He legs kicked higher, stronger, and faster then ever before as her heart, her anger was being poured out onto the dance floor. It was almost like a remedy for this pain that she was feeling, a healthy remedy even though she knew as soon as she stopped, it would all come flooding back.

Her legs finally stop moving as music abruptly turns off. Her dark eyes look over to the side of the room to see that everyone's mouth was dropped open to the floor. Even Camilla looked shocked at the art that was just created. "Um… good. McKessie, you're up."

Gabriella walks off, feeling the anger still surging through her body. She stands next to Sharpay who looked like she had just seen a ghost come to life before her very eyes. "Oh my God." She says while Gabriella's jaw was still set.

She could see those piercing blue eyes boring into her own. The lies that had come out through that perfect voice. She felt betrayed, almost cheated by his actions. How could he do this to her? She opened her heart up and trusted him, why did he do this? "What happened?" Gabriella finally says, even though she didn't want to know, a part of her still did.

Sharpay sighs as she looks at the ground. "I had the biggest crush on Troy last year. He was supposed to be mine during the summer, since Amber had a thing with him during the school year. She promised me she would stay away from him. But one night, we went to a party, and I got drunk and passed out. I guess Amber was flirting with him, and Troy came onto her. Evidently, he woke up with a hang over in her bed, naked."

Gabriella could feel her knuckles turn white as she imagined Amber and Troy sleeping together. "How could he lie to me?"

Sharpay sighs as the music turns off again. "I'm sure he just didn't want to hurt you."

Gabriella's jaw was set as she watches Taylor walk towards them. "Gabriella, that was incredible." Taylor says while Gabriella turns her head to the side to see the girl who was causing her this much pain. She wanted to walk over and slap her just to give her a taste of what she was feeling right now.

"He didn't want to hurt me?" Gabriella asks sarcastically while turning to the two girls who were standing next to her, looking slightly afraid. "Then what the hell do you call what I'm feeling right now?


	20. Depressed

_Troy runs down the stairs in his basketball shorts and t-shirt while walking into the kitchen. It was a Saturday, although the Saturday was awful in Troy's eyes. There was rain spilling down the sides of the house as Troy could also see a crack of lightning in the distance. The twelve year old looks outside angrily, knowing that his day was ruined since he was now officially stuck inside with nothing to do. That meant he was stuck playing video games with Aaron unless Chad called him and asked him to go over to his house. This completely sucked._

"_Morning Troy." His father greats him excitedly as he sits at the table, dressed in a red, black and white shirt, but Troy was surprised to see that it wasn't a Wildcat's shirt. Instead, it said Redhawks on the front with the University of Albuquerque logo on it. He grabs a bowl and then the cereal and sits down with his father at the table. "How's my Champ?"_

_Troy feels a glow on his cheeks, remembering the select game he played last night, leading the team in scoring and he was defiantly at the top of his game yesterday. Maybe that was just because for once Aaron didn't have a game that night either, so he was free to receive the full attention from both parents that he well deserved. "Good." He says while taking a spoonful of cheerios into his mouth and chewing slowly._

"_Hey bro!" Troy hears his thirteen year old brother walk into the room and ruffle his little brother's hair. Troy glares at him for a moment before fixing it and then returning to his cereal. "You still pumped from the game last night?"_

_Troy nods slowly. "Yeah." He says while a little bit of food comes out of his mouth, going unnoticed by Coach Bolton, but Aaron made no restraint from laughing at his little brother._

"_You played great. For once you actually looked like me out there." Aaron says cockily as Troy could feel the grip on his spoon suddenly become tighter. Why did he ALWAYS have to brag?_

"_Aaron, come on. Troy played great." Coach Bolton says while flipping the sport's page. Troy looks up to see that his brother was also now wearing a U of A shirt. What was going on? Was it look like your father day or something and Troy didn't get the memo? "You pumped for the game?" He asks Aaron and Troy looks from his father, back to his brother with a confused look on his face._

"_What game?" Troy asks eagerly, as Coach Bolton almost looks at him apologetically._

"_My birthday present from last week? Remember? Tickets to see the Redhawks?" He says in a way that seemed more to Troy like he was showing off that he was going to be able to go to the game then explaining it to his bother. Troy sighs, suddenly remembering how his brother and father were going to the game and leaving him behind._

"_Oh yeah, THAT game." Troy says with edge to his voice, obviously jealous at Aaron always getting his way. _

"_Don't be pissed Bro." Aaron says while his father glances over the sport's page to give his eldest son an evil look for saying the new word that he discovered once he got into middle school that year. "I mean mad." He quickly covers while grabbing the cereal for himself and just starts eating out of the box._

_Another crack of lightning from outside and Troy glares at his bother, who was smirking at him cockily. But he then suddenly hears more footsteps enter the room as he looks up to see his mother's face. "Good morning. How are my favorite boys?" She asks while planting a kiss on both son's head, Troy cringing at the fact that his mother now did that even though he was twelve years old._

"_Great… I'm so pumped for the game!" Aaron says while imitating shooting a perfect free throw basket. Troy could feel his eye twitch a little with jealousy as he looks down into his own cereal that was starting to turn into mush._

"_I'm just great." Troy says with anger evidently laced in his voice. He finally pushes the bowl away and leans back in his chair with his arms crossed._

"_Don't worry sport. We'll take you to a game when your birthday comes around." His father states while finally folding the paper._

"_Maybe you could call Chad and have him over." His mother suggests as Troy looks outside with disgust written on his face._

"_There's nothing to do!" He exclaims while hearing the thunder roll outside. His eyes narrow at mother nature and how stupid she was for when this was perfect time to go outside and practice, she had decided that storming would be so much fun for him. Stupid weather, it could go die. "What's the point!"_

_Aaron rolls his eyes as he stands up. Troy could see that his features were starting to become harder as his face was growing longer a little. He was a teenager now, and he defiantly was beginning to look the part, which Troy was also incredibly jealous for. Even though he was a year younger, he was mad that puberty was being nicer to Aaron now, since he was starting to become extremely handsome in a woman's eyes. While Troy felt like he was sitting in awkwardsville, even though most of the girls in his class would protest and say he was the cutest one in the class._

"_You'll find something." Aaron almost mocks as Troy angrily narrows his eyes at him. But then Aaron turns to his father who was standing up now._

"_You ready to go?" He asks while placing an arm around his eldest son, Troy staring at the jealously, wanting to be the light in his father's eyes._

"_No sh…" He starts to say but then glances up to see Lucille was shooting him a dirty look. "Er… of course." He says while Troy rolls his eyes. If it would have been him to almost let the slip out, he would defiantly had gotten yelled at._

"_Well then let's go!" Jack says excitedly while turning to his youngest that was glaring at his family members. "We'll go to a game sometime Champ, I promise." He ruffles Troy's hair who looks over at his brother angrily._

"_We'll let you know how the game is." He says mockingly as Troy could almost feel his eyes turn green with jealousy._

"_Aaron James!" Lucille scolds as Aaron rolls his eyes and then walks up to his mother, giving her a kiss on the cheek._

"_Bye Mom!" He calls while Troy watches him glance back. "See ya Bro!"_

_His eyes narrow at his father and brother as they walk out of the kitchen and towards the front door, laughing and excited about the game. He looks back outside, watching as the rain fall down at a steady pace, not knowing that it was the last time Aaron would ever call him 'Bro' again._

* * *

Troy had to think basketball.

The sweat drips down his body as his piecing blue eyes look up to see some of the team running down the court and while passing the ball to each other. They had gotten done swimming about an hour ago and Troy was now thankful they were back to basketball. Not playing was the worst. Not playing meant that he had to think. Not playing meant he had to feel mental pain. And anyone with else would know that Troy Bolton would endure thousands of pounds more of physical pain if it would scratch out one ounce of mental pain.

Seven days had gone by since he last spoke to her. Seven days he had driven himself crazy. He had called, and she didn't pick up. He had stopped by, but Taylor told him with a sad face that she wasn't there, even though he was well aware she was hiding in the bathroom. He had even tried to corner her after dance one day, but he had just missed her instead. His heart was breaking, further and further with ever second that he wasn't with her. Saying he missed her was an understatement. Saying that he was dying without her, was a better way of putting it.

"BOLTON! Come one what the hell is your problem?" Perez shouts angrily as Troy completely misses a pass that was sent towards him. He curses under his breath and then runs over to where the ball was now sitting in the corner. He didn't need Perez on his back right now. What he needed was to work out this pain and figure out a way to get his girlfriend back.

"Dude, come on try to focus." Jason says as Troy jogs back and passes the ball to Tyler. He sprints down the court doing the stupid passing drill until he gets to the other side and suddenly hears Perez's whistle blow, much to Troy's dismay.

"Alright, we'll see you tomorrow." He exclaims while Troy's stomach drops. He didn't want to stop playing, because if he stopped playing then he'd let his mind wander and the pain would hurt so much more. So he walks over as everyone goes in the locker-room and grabs a ball, to begin shooting. No one ever asked why he stayed later lately, because Troy had been in such a bad mood that they all didn't want to get their heads ripped off.

The only sound that was going through the gym was the sound of Troy's ball hitting the hardwood. The sound seemed to echo in Troy's ear, with each bounce reminding him how much of an idiot he was. Why did he lie to her? Why was he so stupid? How did he think that she would never find out? He had no answers to these questions. He was a complete idiot, there was no doubt about that.

"Fuck…" Troy says loudly as the ball bounces off the backboard and completely away from the target. He sighs as he starts to walk over to where the ball rolled to, keeping his head down as though he wasn't even worthy to bring it back up again.

"Shooting like that isn't going to help you this season." A voice enters his ears that makes him cringe. His head looks up to see the Hispanic man bouncing the ball. His face that was normally hard towards Troy was somewhat soft as he passes him the ball and Troy looks away from him, taking a three point shot and watching it miss once again.

"Whatever." Troy says without much care in his voice. He didn't want to have to deal with this guy right now, nor did he think he'd be able to.

"Whatever? It's your senior year boy! You can't just blow it off." Perez says while Troy grabs the ball again and dribbles it from his left hand to his right.

"I'm not blowing it off." He says while taking a shot and finally watching it fall into the basket. He walks over and grabs his rebound to see that Perez didn't look like he was going anywhere right now. Troy sighs and runs a hand through his hair. The last thing he needed was someone riding his ass right now.

"Could have fooled me." The coach says as Troy narrows his eyes at him.

"Did you just come here to ride my ass?" He says, knowing full well he was not showing him any respect, but Perez didn't show HIM any respect, so why should he? "Because I really don't need that right now."

"No." The Hispanic man says as he walks towards Troy. "But you're not going to get better if people just sit there and tell you how great you are."

Troy rolls his eyes while stopping midway in shooting and turns around to look at him, feeling fire rush through his veins. "I know that." He says thinking about how he had gone his first twelve years on this planet with people telling him how great someone ELSE was, but never how great he was. "I don't expect them to." He says while turning back around and takes another shot, watching it go in again and hearing the echo of the ball bouncing on the hardwood. "They just do."

He could see Perez roll his eyes as Troy takes another shot and completely air balls it. He closes his eyes and angrily runs a hand through his hair, starting to feel the pressure from everything build up slowly. "Bolton, you've got talent, there's no denying that. But someday you're gonna have to learn that talent only gets you so far."

Troy could feel his hands starting to tremble. He knew that. He didn't need other people telling him this because he defiantly knew that. "You think this is talent?" Troy asks with venom in his voice, expecting Perez to take a step backwards in shock, but the man doesn't move. "I've worked my ass off to get this far." He says while taking another shot and missing it completely again. "Fuck!"

Perez shakes his head at Troy's anger as he gets his own rebound. "I'm not talking about that." He says which actually makes Troy look up in shock. What? "If you wanna get anywhere with this sport, you gotta learn to work with your team. You're good Bolton; anyone with eyes can see that. But you know your good, so you try to show how good you are. Just being with the team sometimes is enough. You don't always have to be the best."

Troy looks down. All his life he had wanted to be the best. "Yes I do." He responds but stops dribbling the ball and taking shots and looks up into Perez's dark and usually emotionless eyes. But they seemed to have some sort of emotion in them now, whatever the emotion was. At least they weren't bottomless pits of nothing.

Perez sighs. "You not going to be the player you could be if you don't rely on other people. Trust is key Bolton. You gotta learn to trust if you ever want to go anywhere in life."

If only Gabriella was hearing this instead of him. He lost her trust and he knew it. There was probably no way he was going to get it back either. He wouldn't forgive himself. God, why was he so stupid to lie? What was the point of it anyways? Why was he such and idiot? "I know." Troy says while running a hand through his hair again. He takes another shot and then glances up at the clock, figuring he might want to be getting back. He would probably try calling Gabriella again, just to give it one last shot. "Thanks."

Perez just nods as Troy grabs the basketball and looks up at the older guy. They seem to talk through their eyes. Both of them had so much in common that Troy had never realized before. They both loved the game, both were incredible players, and both gave their heart and soul into everything they did. The only problem was that Troy was pretty sure his heart was smashed into a million pieces. "See ya tomorrow Bolton."

Troy just nods and walks to the locker room to grab his bag. Once getting it, he walks down the steps but purposely walks by the dance studios, just on maybe the off chance that Gabriella decided to stay late too. He sighs as he finds it empty and then walks down the stairs. After walking out the door and feeling the blazing sun hit his skin, he begins to walk the familiar route back to his hotel.

The only thing that was running through his mind during the entire walk was how he was going to get Gabriella back. But his mind was drawing a blank. He blew it. Completely blew it. Why the hell wasn't he just honest with her? Why didn't he see this coming?

All these questions continue to circle his head as he suddenly realizes that he was in front of his hotel. He sighs and pulls the bag that was draped on his shoulder up futher before walking up to the main doors. His feet carry him into the lobby where he suddenly sees the one person who was the cause for all this standing next to Dane with a flirtatious smile on her face. His eyes narrow, even though he knew it wasn't Amber's fault at all, but it still was so much better to blame her then to take the blame on his own.

"Troy! Hey!" He hears her say as he starts to make his way to the elevator. "You look depressed." She says while jogging over from where Dane was turning to go out to the pool and smiles at him. Troy continues to have a hard face on as he doesn't wait for her to catch up wit him.

"Really? I had no idea." He says with sarcasm laced in his voice as he glares at her. She raises one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

"You and you girlfriend both..." She mumbles while Troy's eyes narrow even more. She shouldn't dare talk about Gabriella when Amber was half the reason he was in this mess in the first place. "She's like someone's died. Maybe they have back home."

Wait, Gabriella was hurting too? Did that mean that he had more of a chance then before? Maybe if she was hurting so bad, she'd be easier to talk to. Maybe now that things have sort of cooled down between them, everything would be ok if he just talked to her and explained himself. Although, he was pretty sure there wasn't much to explain, besides the fact that he completely screwed up and all he had was to just beg her to understand.

"Yeah…" Troy says not wanting to be around this girl anymore as she places a hand on his forearm. Troy looks down at it like it was burning his skin and then looks back up into her piercing green eyes, almost shivering in the process.

"I hope you feel better." She says with one of her seductive smirks on as Troy rolls his eyes and grabs his arm back and then walks into the open eleveator. It shuts and he watches the numbers increase. This was good though, maybe she'd actually let him talk to her. Well, if she ever did want to talk to him again.

The doors open again and he walks down the hallway towards the room. After sliding his card in, he opens the door and he doesn't even bother looking down at his best friend's bed to see that he was cuddling up with his girlfriend. Chad gives him a nod but Troy doesn't even bother looking, since he was feeling incredibly jealous that Taylor was actually talking to Chad, while Troy hadn't talked to Gabriella since she screamed at him in the lobby.

"What's up man?" Chad asks while Troy finally glances over at the happy couple that made him want to throw up.

"What do you think?" Troy asks with anger laced in his voice as he could hear Taylor and Chad sigh at the same time, probably knowing that it was going to be a long night with the depressed Troy.

"Still won't talk to you?" Chad asks as Troy shrugs.

"I haven't tried. I figure I don't want to piss her off anymore by calling a hundredth time." He says while glancing in the mirror for the first time all day, realizing how bad he actually looked. There was a small hint of stubble forming on his chin since he hadn't shaven in at least two days. His hair was somewhat greasy from running his hands though it all day, the piercing blue had left his eyes as they were now a dull blue, with no life present in them along with the huge purple and black bags under his eyes from lack of sleep.

"She doesn't look much better." Taylor exclaims as Troy turns around to look at her.

"Then why isn't she fucking calling me back?" Troy asks while Taylor sighs and leans forward on the bed towards him.

"Because you lied to her Troy. She doesn't even care that you slept with Amber, she just pissed that you flat out lied to her." Taylor explains while moving some of her bangs off to the side of her face. Troy sighs as he runs a hand through his hair again.

"What do I do?" He asks, trying to figure out what a girl would want him to do.

Taylor shrugs and looks down. "I have no idea. If I knew how, I would help you." She says while Troy sighs.

"Could you talk to her? Please?" Troy begs as Taylor glances at her boyfriend.

"I don't know if it's gonna help." She explains as Troy closes his eyes in pain. He needed her to talk to Gabriella. He needed all the help he could get.

"Taylor… I'm begging." Troy says while his eyes were showing the little hope that he had left in them. She sighs and looks back at Chad one more time.

"Fine… but I'm not promising anything." She says while inside, Troy's heart twitches. That was all he could ask for.

**A/N**: So I know this chapter isn't very exciting, but it's a filler, so I hope you guys don't get too bored. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! You guys are amazing!


	21. Stiff

Gabriella could feel the muscles on her legs begin to expand as she reaches past her feet on her right leg. Eight days. That's all she could think about. Eight days had gone by since she last spoke to him. Eight days since she last heard him talk to her. Eight days since her heart had been broken into a million pieces. It should have been simple. He lied, get over it. But this… this was different. She wasn't sure if they were broken up. She wasn't sure of anything right now. Her mind was torn. One half was saying to forget the bastard and quit now, but the other half was telling her to give him another chance. The first half sounded so much better to just drop everything that had happened, but she knew she couldn't let Troy out of her heart.

She sighs as she glances up in the mirror to see everyone else was stretching along with her. Her body was still a complete mess, though she looked a little better then last week. At least it actually looked like she showered, but she still had huge bags under her eyes from lack of sleep last night. How could she sleep when so many things kept running through her head, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about them?

"Hey." A low voice enters her ears as she looks up to find her best friend standing there. Taylor then sits down next to her, since the camp didn't actually start yet, and they were just stretching while waiting for Camilla to arrive, which wouldn't be for at least another fifteen minutes. "How's it going?"

Gabriella shrugs her thin and boney shoulders while glancing at the mirror again to see the brunette in the back of the room. She hadn't said a word to Amber at all in eight days either, nor did she have any desire to. In Gabriella's mind, Amber wasn't worth the thought. "Hanging in there." She says softly while Taylor nods and Gabriella switches feet to stretch.

"So guess who I saw last night?" She says casually while Gabriella shrugs and then grabs her arm to stretch that while still in a sitting position.

"I don't know… the Queen of England." She asks even though she knew that wasn't right, she just wasn't in the mood to play this game right now. She really wasn't in the mood to do much of anything but dance lately.

"Close, but no." She says while grabbing her own arm while Gabriella reaches behind her head and begins stretching. "A certain depressed brown-haired-blue-eyed-boy who is rooming with my boyfriend." She says with a hint of hope in her voice.

At first, Gabriella's heart lifts at the thought of her boyfriend, well if he WAS still her boyfriend, but then sinks when she was reminded of the pain her put her though. "Good for you." Gabriella says like she doesn't care, but deep down she was dying to hear the rest of this story.

Taylor rolls her own eyes. "Don't give me that, I know you care."

She sighs again and looks up at Taylor's face to see her move the bangs off to the side even more. "No I don't." She completely lies while Taylor rolls her eyes again.

"He's a mess." Her best friend tells her and Gabriella's heart sinks a little. He was a mess? What did that mean? Did that mean he was hurting as badly as she was? What if something was wrong with him? "He looks awful, I don't even think I'd be able to recognize him if I didn't know it."

Gabriella knew she was exaggerating, but by how much? "Good." Was the only thing that Gabriella could find to say. "Why are you telling me this?"

Taylor sighs, to add to the dramatic effect but Gabriella knew exactly where she was going with this. "I think you should talk to him."

Her body suddenly begins fighting a war inside her. It was like cannons were going off in her stomach and neither side wanted to back down any time soon. She wanted to talk to him; she wasn't going to lie there. Eight days had been torture without talking to him. But the other side of the war was shooting cannons back saying how he broke her trust, just like her father and just like Collin. How can she just go back to him like that and expect that he will be honest in the future? What else hasn't he told her? "No." Gabriella says plainly, even though the other half of her was furious right now.

"What's you not talking to him going to solve? You guys are both miserable. You guys can both barely function. Just talk to him, what's the harm in just talking?" Taylor asks as Gabriella sighs again. Every other girl in the studio was too busy gossiping about something or complaining to notice that the two girls were having an actual heart to heart conversation right in front of them.

"I can't do it." She says while looking at her best friend, trying to get her to understand.

"Why not?" Taylor asks.

Gabriella looks down, finding the floor so much easier to look at then Taylor. "Troy broke the most important thing to me. I have major trust issues." She says while looking back up at Taylor.

She nods in understanding. "But… he was just trying to protect you, to not hurt you. He was doing it for you, that's gotta count for something right?"

She pushes back a strand of hair that was sitting on her forehead. "It doesn't matter, he still lied. It's just so confusing. I want to talk to him, but I know I can't." She says while Taylor looks at her with concern.

"Why not?"

"I just…" Gabriella sighs. "I don't know what to do. I've been like this all my life… I've never trusted people after they've let me down." She says while looking down at the floor again. Her fingers trace light patterns on the studio floor. This was her home, it was supposed to bring her happiness. Then how could she feel this miserable?

"So you can't trust him now. No one can." Taylor says and Gabriella sighs again. She was acting like it wasn't a big deal, but it was. It was huge, and the war going on in Gabriella's mind was driving her crazy.

"But that's the problem." She explains while keeping her head down, still staring at the floor.

Taylor's eyebrow rises. "What is?"

Her eyes finally lift up as she could feel a burning sensation in the back of them. No, she was done crying. She couldn't do it anymore. "I want to trust him."

Suddenly, the door swings open and Gabriella turns around to see the small Hispanic lady walk in with an air of dignity. Camilla throws her bag to the floor in front of the studio and Gabriella almost cringes at the sound of the door slamming. The dance instructor scans the faces as everyone looks up at her, not daring to have to catch them off guard, or who knows what would have happened.

"Good morning." She says as though giving a lame attempt to be polite. Gabriella's tired eyes glance over at Taylor, who had her own scared look on her face. Both of them look across the studio to see that Sharpay was staring back at them, the same look in her eyes. There was something different about the way Camilla walked in today that Gabriella noticed. "I have some good news."

"Uh oh, this can't be good." Taylor whispers and Gabriella probably would have found it funny if she wasn't dying inside.

"I have finally made my decision on who is taking the senior solo." She says while a twisted smile on her face that almost made Gabriella shudder. The senior solo. Some of these girls had been working their asses off for this moment. Gabriella glances over to see that Sharpay was glancing at her. She also looks back to see that Amber had a smug look on her face that Gabriella just wanted to rip off, stomp on the ground, and let to die.

"It's gonna be you." Taylor whispers as Gabriella looks at her and shakes her head.

"Amber's been working on this forever." She whispers back, almost throwing up at the sound of the girl's name on her tongue.

"But you're the best fucking dancer I've ever seen." She whispers back with a warm smile on her face. It should have made Gabriella feel better, but all it did was remind her of that sweet, incredible smile that Troy gave her.

"Many of you have been working on this since you first got here." Gabriella glances back to see that Amber's smile grows even bigger. She rolls her eyes and faces forward again. "But I chose on who I thought will be able to take this, perfect it and give it individuality. The lady who will be performing this is… Gabriella Montez."

She could feel all eyes on her as her stomach flips. Usually, she'd be ecstatic about this, but right now, she could barely function, how was she supposed to do a solo? She had until the end of the month to do it, when they performed their performance at the showcase, but how was she going to do this? "Camilla, I…"

"Will practice until I get it perfect? Thank you Montez." She says while attitude in her voice. Gabriella looks up into the beady black eyes that were staring down at her while her lipstick seemed to be brighter then usual. There was no changing Camilla's mind. Whatever she said went, and right now, that meant Gabriella was going to have to do the impossible. Perfect a dance with a broken heart. "Alright, everyone get to work."

"Congrats Gabriella!" Angie whispers.

"You'll do so amazing Brie!"

"You definitely deserve it!"

"Nice job Brie!" Were all things called out to her.

"Congrats." Taylor says as Gabriella looks at her, probably paler then when she first walked in the room.

"I can't do this." She exclaims while Taylor places a hand on her shoulder.

"You'll do great, I know you will." She encourages as Gabriella takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

"I can't." Her head turns back even further to see that Amber's face was a little shocked, with jealousy written in her green eyes as she stared back at the almost black-haired girl. Well, at least there was one good thing about this.

She got one thing Amber never got.

* * *

Hours later, Gabriella found herself alone in the studio. Camp was over, but that wasn't stopping Gabriella. Her deep brown eyes were staring into her own in the mirror. This was how it was going to have to be from now until the showcase. She would be able to practice after camp to get this right. It was a good thing though, because the more she practiced, the more she didn't have to think. And the more she didn't have to think, the better off she was, since then she wouldn't have to feel pain.

"Kick, fan, turn, step." She whispers the counts in her head as her body responds. It should have been so easy. She had done solos before in her life. In fact, she had done MANY routines by herself before. But this? This was hard. Because she had to do this while her heart broke with every second that went by.

Her body was stiff, and she knew it. There was no passion, no emphases, no heart into this. How could there be? Her heart was in the hands of Troy Bolton, who then decided to shove it to the ground and stomp on it. Why couldn't he just have been honest? Why did he have to put her through this much pain? Her legs continue to move as she thinks this. The white walls and the side with the mirror seem to close in around her. She felt so small, so helpless, so… so heartbroken.

Her legs finally collapse as she sinks to her knees. Small tears were built up in her eyes as she could feel them burning. But suddenly, without warning, she hears something in the room. It was a small sound, and almost would go undetected but there was no music in the room, and Gabriella was by herself. Her head lifts up to look in the mirror, and her body was completely thrown into shock.

Standing next to the white door was a familiar person, but in a way he was unrecognizable. His normally perfect hair had lost the normal shine to it that it had. His face seemed longer, paler then the usual perfect tan skin that lit up any room. There was a slight shadow on his chin and under his nose, giving him a dirty look. But what drew Gabriella in were the normally, piercing, perfect blue eyes. They had become completely dull, colorless, and almost gray in pain. Her eyes look up and meet his in the mirror. Gabriella's body couldn't move. It was the closest she had been to him in eight days. He looked like shit.

Her body slowly turns around away from the mirror but immediately lock back up with his almost gray eyes. Her legs slowly stand up as she has to balance herself to make sure that she didn't fall over in shock. The heart that was pounding quickly suddenly fluttered. He was here; he wanted to talk to her. Everything was going to be ok.

But that thought soon died as she could suddenly feel the pain she felt last week all over again. Why would he come here? There was no way she would forgive him. He broke her trust, just like every other guy. He wasn't any different, he was just like them.

Gabriella tries to look away but found that she couldn't. "Why… Why are you here?" Gabriella asks, weak at first but attitude lacing into her voice with every word that was spoken.

Troy sighs as he could pick up that tone she used. "I need you." They were the simplest words, and Gabriella's heart fluttered at them, but then her mind took control again. "We have to talk."

Gabriella's eyes narrow a little. "We don't have to do anything." She says while crossing her arms, not giving into his perfection.

Troy dares to take a step forward, Gabriella feeling the temperature in the room suddenly shoot up about ten degrees. "I can't do this Gab. I can't. I miss you, I want you, I need you…I'm sorry." He says while taking another step further towards her.

Gabriella could see the desperation in his eyes, but there was no way she was breaking now. She couldn't just forgive him like that. "I don't care." She says with her voice cracking. It was a complete lie and she knew it.

"Gabi… please." He begs but remains in his spot.

Gabriella shakes her head, and then looks down a the ground finding that if she did that, if she didn't look at him, then maybe, just maybe she could do this without loosing. "Sorry isn't going to do shit Troy."

He sighs and then takes another step forward. "I know… just tell me what to do." He says desperately. "I shouldn't have lied to you…"

Gabriella turns around and faces the mirror again. "I don't want to hear it Troy." She says while still staring at the mirror, her heart breaking just looking at him.

She watches as he sighs and closes his eyes through the mirror. "So is that it? After everything we've done this summer? You're just gonna throw it away like that?" He asks while taking another step closer, but still remaining his distance from her. His voice was getting slightly stronger with every word he said. "Are you ever going to talk to me?"

Gabriella knew the answer to this question. Her eyes look up to see him staring at her, with lust, pain, and desperation in them. "Yes." She says quietly. Hope stretches across his face for a moment, but then suddenly dies while Gabriella turns to look at him. "I just don't know what's going on right now ok?"

Each word made her voice shake more. Troy takes another step forward to comfort her as she takes a step back and wipes her eyes. "Gabi…"

"It's not like I'm never going to talk to you again." She says simply, starting to let her emotions take over. But not now, she couldn't. She had to be strong. She had to try to be in control. It was the only way she was going to ever get out of this, was maintaining control. "I just don't know what to think right now." She says in a low voice that was close to a whisper.

Troy nods and places his hands in his pockets. "This fucking sucks." He says while Gabriella gives out a weak smile. It was the first actual smile she had used in eight days.

"I just need time to think ok?" She says desperately. That was the truth. She needed to think about what she wanted. She knew she wanted Troy, but she had to figure out what meant more to her. Him, or her trust issues.

He nods slowly. "Ok… that's better then nothing." He says while taking more steps forward. Gabriella suddenly felt the room close in as she stares into his almost gray eyes as he stops in front of her. It was another thirty degrees hotter in the room as Troy leans forward and places his soft lips onto her forehead. She closes her eyes at the sensation of sparks flying through her body again as the side that hated him was screaming at her to push him away. She could feel a scratch of his stubble on her forehead as he pulls away and looks down at her.

"Thank you." She whispers, thankful that he was actually being a little understanding.

"Please don't take forever." He whispers back and tries to grab her to pull her close in a hug, but she quickly sidesteps him. She couldn't go there. She didn't know if that's what she wanted. The side opposed to him suddenly takes over again as her eyes cloud over a little.

"I never said I'd forgive you." She says in a stronger voice as Troy's eyes loose whatever hope was left in them. "I just said I'd think about it."

Troy nods slowly, obviously not wanting to get on her bad side right now. "That's all I can ask for.

Gabriella's eyes narrow a little again. "Good." She says with attitude in her voice again.

Troy sighs one more time as he turns around and takes slow steps towards the door. Gabriella war was going on again. Half of her was jerking to run forward and throw her arms around him, taking him back in that second. But the other half was holding her back, telling her she could not break, there was no way. He lied to her, he wasn't going to go back into her life like it was no big deal.

Troy stops at the door as his head turns around slightly. "You're stiff by the way." He says in an emotionless voice. "You're way to stiff."

Gabriella watches in confusion as he then walks out the door, then realizes he was talking about her dancing. Her eyes close again, feeling tears cloud up in them as she falls to the floor again, knowing he was right.


	22. Wake Up Call

She couldn't stop staring at him. She couldn't take her eyes off him. Even completely depressed, upset, and wasted, she still couldn't think of anyone more perfect then him. She was certain there wasn't a flawless bone in his body, even the way he stubbled into the sand and laughed like an idiot. Gabriella's eyes couldn't leave him.

She was standing with her feet in the sand, next to Sharpay who had Zeke's hand in her own, and Melissa and Angie. Taylor was over with Chad, trying to make sure the two guys didn't kill themselves as they kept tripping over everything. Gabriella wasn't drunk, she hadn't been drinking, even though it would have been so tempting to just flush all her problems away. But life didn't work that way, even though it seemed to be working perfectly for Troy Bolton. But that was because anything that had to do with Troy Bolton was perfect.

"Don't be said Brie, it's Friday! That means tomorrows Saturday! Shortened day!" Sharpay exclaims while taking another sip of her drink. Gabriella had no idea how Sharpay did it. She could get wasted every weekend, but wake up the next day completely fine. It never ceased to amaze her.

"I'm trying." Gabriella says while watching Troy attempt to get up again. She had been watching him the whole night, and knew he was doing the same to her. But the look in his face was different then when she had seen him earlier in the week. It had been the same when he first arrived at the party, but after drinking more a more, Gabriella could tell that the alcohol was bringing the color back into his face and making him look semi-normal again. Well, it just could have fooled anyone that he wasn't depressed.

"He's a complete wreck… just look at him." Zeke exclaims while pointing to Troy who was attempting to walk in a straight line someone had drawn in the sand, but Gabriella watches as he falls to the ground with a crash and laughter from other wasted people around him, like Chad. "You gotta talk to him Brie."

Gabriella sighs. She didn't want to talk to him. She knew she was going to have to someday, but being pissed off at him was so much easier, so she was going with that route right now. "I don't have to do anything Zeke. He should have thought about this before he lied to me." She says while taking a sip of her water bottle and turning around to see the party stretching on for what looked like another hundred feet.

"If I were you… I'd forgive him in a heartbeat." Angie says while taking a drink of whatever she was drinking. "He IS Troy Bolton." She says while Gabriella rolls her eyes. She didn't need this commentary right now.

"But he lied to her." Melissa says and Gabriella feels a sudden liking for her. It was nice to know someone was on her side. "And it was Amber too."

"So?" Angie rebuts, Gabriella feeling her face fall again hearing it. "Amber sleeps with everyone, it's not a huge deal."

"Thanks guys, but I really have to figure this one out of my own." Gabriella says with a slight irritated tone in her voice. She didn't need commentary from everyone else about her own issues. Right now she just needed to find a way to solve them.

"Speak of the devil…" Zeke says while Gabriella turns around again to see that Amber was staggering towards them with Marcus' hand in hers. "I'm gonna take this one away before all hell breaks out." He says while referring to Sharpay. He begins leading her in the other direction.

"But I don't wanna go!" Sharpay exclaims while Gabriella rolls her eyes. She didn't blame Zeke because there was no way that Sharpay and Amber would be able to have a civil conversation with each other while both of them were drunk.

"Hey!" Amber's voice enters Gabriella ears and makes her cringe. She glances over to see that Troy was now sitting on the ground with Chad, pointing up at something in the sky. She turns back to Amber who was ignoring Gabriella, just like she had done all week after she found out Gabriella got the senior solo. But Gabriella wasn't complaining at all. "Isn't this party amazing?" She asks while taking a sip of whatever was in Marcus' cup in the hand that wasn't holding hers.

"Yea… it's great." Melissa says while looking around, probably trying to find a way out of the situation.

"We're in MEXICO Lis!" Amber exclaims, even though Gabriella was pretty sure she had never called Melissa 'Lis' in her life. "Loosen up… have some fun." She says while swaying her hips from side to side and giving Gabriella a dirty look in the process. But Gabriella just rolls her eyes and ignores it. Why stoop down to her level.

"Yeah… Mexico… party…" Angie says sarcastically and Gabriella's impression of her shoots though the roof again. She was officially back on Gabriella's good side. "We're leaving in a couple weeks though." She says while Amber's face completely drops.

"That's right!" She says as if it was something new. "Just the showcase and then that's it." She exclaims while looking at Gabriella through her piercing green eyes. "You must be nervous. With the solo and everything."

Gabriella doesn't want to respond, but her personality kicks in. "I'll deal." She says with attitude in her voice.

Amber looks at her up and down for a moment, while Gabriella could see Marcus doing the same, but for different reasons. "Well, she should have given it to someone with more experience. Someone who deserves it." She says while taking another sip out of her cup. Gabriella's anger was running through her veins and she wanted to hit this girl.

"Whatever." Gabriella says, not wanting to cause anything. "I'll see you guys later." She says to the other two girls while glancing back at Amber with a glare. Marcus gives her a smirk that gives her the shivers, so she immediately starts to walk away.

Her eyes lock back on the boy who had her heart to see that he hadn't moved in the position he was in before, but now his face looked so much paler. She could see Taylor standing with her back to Gabriella, with her hands on her hips while Chad pointed to something else. It would have been hilarious if Gabriella was on speaking terms with her boyfriend, but that wasn't the case, of course.

Her feet start carrying her over to Taylor until she stands next to her, going unnoticed by Troy or Chad. "How's it going?" She asks Taylor who looks at her and rolls her eyes.

"This is your fault." She says.

"My fault!" Gabriella exclaims while looking down to see Troy was completely obvious to her being there. "How is it my fault?"

"Because…" Taylor sighs like it was completely obvious. "If your boyfriend wasn't depressed, then he wouldn't have gotten my boyfriend completely wasted and they wouldn't be searching the skies for Pluto right now!"

"I t-hink it's right there!" Gabriella shivers as she hears Troy slur from down below. "Wait… or is that Neptune?"

"I dunno man, it's all so big." Chad says while leaning back on his head.

Taylor rolls her eyes and looks back at her. "I'm gonna take these two four year-old back before they puke, which I think Troy's gonna do soon." She says and Gabriella looks down to see Troy's face pale again.

"Please make sure he doesn't die." Gabriella says while looking back down at him. She wanted to be there to help him, but she still couldn't face him yet, sober or drunk. She watches as Taylor pulls Chad up into a standing position. He steadies himself before Gabriella watches with slight jealousy as Taylor grabs Troy and brings him into a standing position as well.

Taylor gives her a warm smile. "I promise. After I get them back, I'll meet you in the room."

"Alright… I'll see you then." She says and then suddenly feels a pair of almost gray eyes on her.

"Gabriella!" Troy exclaims as Taylor puts a hand on his shoulder.

"No Troy… leave her alone. She doesn't want to talk to you right now." Taylor says but Gabriella couldn't find the strength to pry her eyes away from him.

"No! Gabriella!" Troy yells while running staggered over and grabbing Gabriella's hand. She could feel sparks flying through it as she stared up into his eyes. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."

She could feel her heart melt with every word that he said, but the angry side of her told her that he was just drunk and he still broke her heart. Gabriella shakes her head and takes a step back from him. "You're wasted!" She exclaims as she points at him. "Just… go Troy, ok? Just go."

She watches as his face falls and Taylor runs over to grab his arm. "Come on Troy…" She says while Troy and Gabriella's eyes were locked on each other, neither one of them wanting to break the stare first. They continue to look at each other until Gabriella couldn't see his face anymore. A sigh escapes from her mouth as she runs two hands through the front of her hair. She wasn't able to do this anymore.

Her feet begin to work their way around the people who were completely drunk and walk towards her hotel that was only two down from where the party was. She glances up at the hotel Troy was staying in, and couldn't help but scan the windows in hopes of maybe getting a glimpse of him. Why was this so hard?

But she moves her head back down and suddenly gets a strange feeling in her stomach. She could see a figure standing about twenty feet away from her, right where what looked like her hotel was. She could feel her stomach starting to turn as her speed increases, until she finally sees the outline of a guy with a smirk on his face.

"Gabriella." Marcus breathes out as Gabriella could feel the weird feeling in her stomach start to grow again. "I'm so glad to see you." He says in his heavy Hispanic accent while grabbing her hand and putting it to his mouth. She couldn't help but feel the warning bells running through her head as he lowers her hand a smiles at her.

"Er… hi Marcus." She says slowly while feeling her hands shake a little as he drops it. "Um… where's Amber?" She asks while walking inside the gate and feeling him fall into step next to her.

"Still at the party. I decided to come back here and wait for her, but I ran into you instead." He says and Gabriella could see there was truth in his eyes, that he wasn't lying about that, but she still didn't want to be around him right now.

"Oh well, you should probably get back to waiting." She says while she could hear the ocean waves crash up against the beach as she finally got to the back door of the hotel and turns to him. He had a greedy look in his eyes as he stared down at her.

"I could stay and keep you company too." He says while taking a step closer to her, but she backs up immediately.

"Um… I'll be fine." She says.

Marcus shakes his head. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't make sure you got to your room ok?" He says while wiggling his eyebrows a little and Gabriella shakes her head. This was the final straw, she was done with this guy trying to make a move on her. All she could think about was how she'd rather be with Troy right now then around him.

"No Marcus. It's sweet that you want to help, but your girlfriend comes first." She says while shaking her head and grabbing the door inside.

"But Gabriella…" He starts to protest but Gabriella shakes her head.

"No ok? Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go." She says while opening the door. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd stay away from me." She says and then shutting it in his face. Marcus stares at her for a moment, but Gabriella doesn't see since she immediately starts walking towards the stairs, away from him and all the drama he could have caused.

* * *

"You look like you're dying." Chad says while Troy lays his head back on his pillow.

Troy could feel his head pounding as he rubs his forehead. It felt like a giant airplane had decided to land on it last night. Why was he so stupid? Sure, it felt good to let go last night and try not to think about Gabriella, but all that did was make him think about her more while drunk, and now he had the pounding headache to back it up. "I think I am." Troy moans as he places a pillow over his head to try and block out all light that was shining on his face.

"I hope Perez didn't see that today." Chad says while flipping through the channels on the TV as Troy's head pops out from under the pillow.

It was 9:30 PM, and Troy was sitting in a pair of red basketball shorts and a white. He glances over to see Chad was dressed nicely, since he was taking Taylor out tonight. Zeke was going to be with Sharpay and Jason was hanging out with the guys, who had invited Troy to come along so he wouldn't have to be by himself, but Troy had no desire to go. He had no desire to do anything except try to figure out ways to get his girlfriend back.

"Whatever if he did." Troy says while shrugging and turning over on his side. "I don't care anymore."

Chad sighs as he turns off the TV and looks back at Troy. "You don't seem to care about anything anymore."

Troy sighs as he shrugs. "Shit happens."

Chad sighs again while turning to him. "Just talk to her dude."

He shakes his head in responds. "Have you not listened to me in the past like four days? She doesn't want to talk to me."

"Well, try harder." Chad says and Troy could hear a hint of irritation in his voice.

"There's nothing I can do! She doesn't want anything to do with me alright? It's over, I blew it. I was just to stupid alright?" He says exasperated and a moment of silence erupts between the two of them.

"Did you tell her yet?" Chad asks even though he and Troy had been over this a million times. Troy looks up at the white ceiling and shakes his head.

"Why would I? She hates me right now." He says while sighing and looking up at his best friend again.

"She doesn't hate you." He says, anger rising in his voice as Troy shakes his head again.

"Dude… she hates me." He says while Chad finally stands up, looking determined and angry about something.

"She doesn't hate you!" He exclaims again in a louder voice that actually makes Troy look back in shock. "Dude, I'm sick of you mopping around ok? You tried to talk to her… what once? I'd probably be pissed off at you too! Dude, if you care about her you gotta fight!" He says while shaking his head at Troy. "But if you're gonna sit here on your fucking ass and not do anything, then I have no sympathy for you." He says while Troy stares at him, in shock of his friend's outburst. "But stop fucking acting like your brother died all over again because if you're not gonna do anything about it, then you deserve to have Brie dump your ass."

Troy's mouth literally drops open. Chad just broke an unwritten rule. They never talked about Aaron dying. Sure, they mentioned it, but it never actually came out in conversation. He stares as his best friend takes deep breaths as Troy finally sits up on his bed and scratches the five o'clock shadow that he still hadn't shaved yet.

"Wow…" Was all Troy could say as he and Chad kept staring at each other. "I'm sorry?" He says more as a question then an actual apology.

Chad shakes his head. "Don't say sorry to me."

"She said she's talk to me when she was ready alright?" Troy says while still comprehending what just happened between them. Especially how he had just brought up Aaron.

"Then fucking fight for her! Show her that she should be ready to talk to you now!" He exclaims with out the anger in his voice anymore. That relaxed Troy, since usually Chad didn't get mad at anything.

Troy sighs and closes his eyes. "You're right man." He says while standing up. "I'm sorry."

Chad lets out a breath and then pats Troy on the shoulder. "It's alright." He says and then looks down, slightly embarrassed. "And I'm sorry… for you know… bringing up…"

"It's cool." Troy says before he could say Aaron's name and shrugs. "Whatever."

Chad smirks a little as Troy finally hears a knock on the door. "That's Tay." He says while grabbing his wallet on the nightstand and then turning to Troy. "And man?"

Troy looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yea?

Chad smiles even more. "Take a shower before you go. You smell like shit." He says while Troy smirks a little and rolls his eyes.

"Thanks man." He says, laughing that Chad had just gone from inspirational speaker to joking around in less then three minutes.

"And shave… the shadow's not working for you either." He says with a wave as he opens the door and then walks out. Troy sighs as the door shuts and he could hear complete silence. His eyes look to the mirror, to see an unfamiliar face staring back at him.

He saw a scared boy. A long, pale face with gray pale eyes staring back into his own normal piercing blue, that weren't present right now. This wasn't him. Chad was right, this wasn't him at all. He was stronger then this. He was Troy Bolton, there was nothing that stopped him. A small grin forms on Troy's face as he could suddenly see speckles a blue form in his eyes as hope returned to his body. He turns on his feet and runs into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him, getting rid of the depressed Troy and getting in the shower to get his girl back.


	23. No More Secrets

The room was black. The only light that was being admitted was the moon through the windows. The only thing that could be heard was the rocking of the bed and the moans erupting from it. The room felt about fifty degrees normal then it usually would. She could feel sweat breaking out onto her forehead as she could feel a trail of fire stretch down her stomach. The source of the fire retraces the line it had just drawn back up, skipping over the black sports bra that was on her chest. She takes a deep breath to try to gain air but it was as though it was sucking it out of her. Her hands were running through the chestnut brown hair as she suddenly feels his lips leave her chest and connect with her own, muffling the moan that had been produced in her mouth from the sensation of his hand drawing a circle on her exposed stomach.

"Troy…" She moans as he grins down with the piercing blue eyes that had returned to him about an hour ago. Her small hand traces down his bare chest, making him shiver to his touch as he connects their lips again.

"Promise… never… to fight… again…" He says in between kisses while then moving down to her neck.

Gabriella smiles a little and her hand drops lower and teases the bulge that was exposed through his black basketball shorts as she could hear him moan. "If we never fought, then you'd never get a make up."

She could feel Troy smile against her neck. "Then let's just skip the fighting and just do make ups all the time." He whispers huskily as he nibbles on her ear a little. The events that had happened in the past hour were circling around her head as Troy's lips continue to kiss her neck…

_The room was black and silent. Gabriella's head was in her pillows, as she was trying to let sleep take over, but it wasn't working. Her mind was swimming with too many other things right now to sleep. She probably hadn't gotten more then four hours of sleep since she and Troy had their fight. She wanted to, so desperately she wanted to, but she couldn't. It wasn't working because she couldn't get her mind off of Troy Bolton, what a surprise._

_Taylor was out for the night with Chad, so the room was completely silent with the only sounds being heard was her breathing. Her body was curled up underneath the covers, almost as if trying to hide from reality. The war was still going on in her mind and neither side seemed like they wanted to back down anytime soon. Both wanted control, both wanted to win, but only one side wanted Troy, and the other didn't._

_A sigh erupts from Gabriella's throat as she suddenly hears a small tap echo in the silent, dead room. Her mind thinks nothing of it, since noises erupted from the hotel room all the time, until she hears it again. Her heavy eyes open up as her body turns over to the side with the window, trying to ignore the noise. But another tap and she realizes that it was coming from the window._

_She slowly throws the covers off of her and swings her feet around, hearing another tap against the window. She was only wearing a black sports bra and grey booty shorts, with her long hair draping over her back. Her feet carry her towards the window that was admitting the light from the full moon as she draws the curtains and opens up the door to the balcony, looking for the animal that was causing all this noise._

_There was nothing to be seen. She steps out onto the balcony more, searching for the source of the noise, but there was nothing. She sighs and grabs the door to walk back into the balcony, when suddenly her heart skips five beats and her body was put into shock. "Gabi!"_

_Her body was frozen. She knew whose voice that belonged to, but she couldn't believe he was here. Her heart raises for a moment, thinking of him below her, but then like normal, the other side of her tells her that there was no reason he should be here. She turns around and walks over to the edge of the balcony to see a familiar guy standing down there. "Troy! What the hell are you doing?"_

_He looked different then last night. The shine in his hair had returned along with the color in his face. From where she was, it looked like he had shaved the stubble that was on his chin before so he looked completely smooth. "Come down here." He coxes her as Gabriella's eyes narrow a little._

"_No Troy. Go back to your hotel." She says and was hoping no one would wake up since they were both talking in their normal voices._

"_Not until I know we're fine." He says while taking a step forward. Gabriella could see the determination in his eyes, but she wasn't going to back down like that. He lied to her, he let her down, this wasn't going to be over just like that._

"_I told you I had to think about it!" She says with anger laced in her voice. _

"_What's there to think about Gabi?" He asks desperately. _

_That just gets Gabriella even angrier. There was a lot to think about. Like whether or not she wanted to be with someone who lied to her face. "You fucking lied to me Troy, you flat out lied to my face. I don't know if I want to be with someone he lies to me."_

"_I'm sorry ok? I know it doesn't make up for anything, but I am…" Troy says while Gabriella stares down at him from her balcony. She could tell he was trying to be as persuasive as possible. "I've never felt this way about anyone before."_

_Gabriella does her best not to roll her eyes. "Don't give me that shit Troy." She says with poison laced in her voice. _

"_It's not shit!" Troy exclaims desperately. "Gabriella, this summer has been the best of my life. I can't… I can't even describe it. You mean more to me then anyone else has. I'm sorry I lied. It was stupid, but I didn't want to hurt you. I care about you too damn much to see you in pain."_

_Gabriella grips the side of the balcony harder as she could feel her eyes cloud over a little. "If you care about me so damn much, then why the hell am I hurting? Huh? I can't do this anymore Troy." She says while turning around to grab the door to her balcony._

"_What if I told you I loved you?" He yells desperately as Gabriella's body freezes before she could grab the door handle. Her eyes grow wide as her heart flips about four thousand times. What? Did he just say what she thought he said? She immediately turns around and looks down to see the lust in his eyes._

"_What?" She says in a whisper barely audible. Her hands were shaking as she could see him take a step further below her._

"_You heard me." He says while his eyes were radiating the blue she had almost forgotten. "I love you Gab, I know it hasn't been that long, but God… I love you."_

_Gabriella's heart was fluttering at the sound of his words. She opens her mouth to say something but found that she didn't know what to say. He loved her? But she was supposed to be angry at him! For some reason, it seemed that after those words, all the anger seemed to be lost. "I…" She starts to say but then closes her eyes and shakes her head, feeling tears burning in her eyes. "Don't move ok?"_

_She turns around on her heels and swings the balcony door open. Her long dance legs carry her towards the door as she quickly grabs a key and then opens it. Her head turns left to right as she starts to run towards the door to the stairs, but finds that it opens before she could even get to it. _

_His eyes were filled with love as he stares at her. The wind was playing with her hair softly in the open hallway as she could see he wasn't going to go anywhere. They just stare at each other for a moment, not being able to think of what to say, but Gabriella finally feels her tongue again. Tears were built up in her eyes as she stared at him like she was staring at the world._

"_Dancing is my life… it has been since I could walk. And here you show up... and you make me feel like there's something just as important." Gabriella explains with a tear in her eye. She could see Troy was shaking as well._

"_What?" Troy asks while his voice was cracking._

"_Love." She says and that's all it took. Troy runs over to her and she could barely register what was happening before she felt his lips crash onto hers. Her arms wrap around his neck as she feels him push her against the nearest wall and slips his tongue into her mouth. He was passionately playing tag with her as she could feel a tear slip down her cheek._

"_I'm sorry." He whispers as their lips come apart for a moment before he attacks her mouth again. Gabriella closes her eyes to the sensation and then pulls back for a breath again._

"_Me too…" She says while feeling him pick her legs up and carry her to her room._

Gabriella could feel her body being put into shock as Troy pushes his fingers further, deeping inside her again. Her back arches to him as she moans and suddenly sees stars burst in her vision as an orgasm rips through her body. "Troy!" She lets out and then feels herself be suspended for a moment, before collapsing while panting heavily. He was breathing hard above her as she feels his lips trail back up her neck to her lips and connects them together in a perfect kiss.

As soon as he pulls away, Gabriella looks up into his crystal blue eyes that she had no idea how she ever could have lived with out them and smiles. "I love you." She whispers while feeling he was still slightly hard above her, but neither of them was ready to have sex yet, so there was nothing that was going to be done about it.

"I love you more." He whispers against her lips even though there was no sense in whispering. Gabriella giggles as Troy kisses her again, feeling the small throb forming between her legs once again.

Troy gets up off of her, against Gabriella's wishes and grabs his boxers that were sitting on the side of the bed from when Gabriella ripped them off of him and pulls them on. He then throws her bra and underwear from the other side of the bed and Gabriella smiles as she watches the bulge on Troy start to flatten, since he was probably trying to do it on purpose. Gabriella pulls on her sport's bra and underwear, while grabbing her shorts that were lying on the floor and crawls over to him, planting kisses on his clammy shoulders.

"Gab, stop, you're going to cause a problem again." He says with a small smirk as Gabriella glances down to see his crotch stiffen a little again.

She smiles innocently. "Sorry, and sorry I'm not helping with that." She says somewhat shyly as Troy rolls his eyes and turns around to wrap his arms around her.

"I don't even care, just so I can be with you." He whispers as it was Gabriella's turn to roll her eyes.

She laces their fingers together and looks up into his eyes. "I missed you so much." She says as he smiles, obviously that was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Good… cuz I couldn't function." Troy says whiel placing another longing kiss on her lips. Gabriella sighs as she then breaks apart and looks him in the eye.

"But you have to promise me, PROMISE me that you're never going to lie again." She says while watching his movements. Troy's body slightly stiffens as he sighs and stares back into her deep brown eyes.

"I will, but there's something else." He says while looking at her. Gabriella could feel her heart drop. Oh no, why did he seem so tense right now? What was going on? "The whole Amber thing… wasn't the first time I lied to you."

Gabriella's mouth drops. Wait, they had just gotten better, and now he was dropping another bomb that he lied to her? Gabriella could feel her eyes narrow. Did he cheat on her or something? "What?" She says with attitude in her voice.

"Just… before you say anything just listen alright?" He begs while his piercing blue eyes were boring into her deep brown. She sighs and nods. "Ok… I have to tell you something. I uh… I'm not an only child."

Gabriella's eyebrows rise as she could actually feel her stomach lessen in butterflies. She was so afraid that it was going to be bad like he cheated on her, but this wasn't what she was expecting. It was really weird, why would he lie about that? "You have a sibling?" She asks while Troy nods slowly.

Troy sighs as she immediately saw sadness draw on his face. There was something more to the story here, Gabriella could tell. It was obvious that there was something else that he wasn't telling her. "His name's Aaron. He was a year older then me." He says while Gabriella could tell his eyes were starting to become slightly red.

"Wait… was?" She asks while Troy squeezes her hand a little.

"I… I um… I really didn't lie to you." He says while Gabriella could see a single tear fall from his face. Her mouth basically drops. How could he go from being ecstatic moments ago to now crying. Her hand gives his a small squeeze to tell him to continue. "He died when I was twelve."

Gabriella hand that wasn't holding onto Troy's immediately went to her mouth. What did she say to that? Finding out that her boyfriend had a brother who died when he was twelve? What could anyone do in that situation? But Gabriella thinks of the only thing she could do, so she grabs Troy's back and pulls him into a hug. "God, I'm so sorry." She whispers. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She could feel him shrug. "I didn't think it was important. And I didn't want you to feel sorry for me." He says while Gabriella continues to hold onto him like her own life depended on it.

"What happened?" She asks while pulling away from him and lacing their hands again.

Troy looks down, probably embarrassed that tears had fallen down from his eyes, though Gabriella could have cared less. "Aaron was better at me at everything. He was smarter, funnier, better at basketball, everything. I lived in his shadow everyday." Troy explains as Gabriella caresses his hand with her thumb. "My dad got him tickets for his birthday to a U of A Redhawks game. The two of them were going to go. I was so pissed. I worked harder, I thought I deserved them." He continues while looking up at Gabriella's face. "It stormed that day. The roads were wet, and while they were going through an intersection, a truck hydroplaned and slid into them, passenger side first."

"Oh my God." Gabriella says while keeping her mouth covered again.

"The car flipped three times, and on the third it landed upside down…" He says with his voice shaking. "There was so much blood. Too much blood lost…" He says while another tear slips down his face. "Aaron died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital."

Gabriella couldn't stop staring at him. How could she be mad at him over an hour ago? Her arms wrap around his neck again and she pulls him into a hug, thinking that was the only thing that would actually make her feel better. She rubs his back a little while he clings to her, not crying, but just wanting her warmth. "I'm so… so sorry."

"I just…" He says while Gabriella's head falls into the crook of his neck. "He was the better Bolton. And he was taken away."

Gabriella shakes her head as she brings herself around again and wipes a single tear off his face. "He wasn't a better Bolton ok?" She says while Troy chuckles a little.

"You didn't even know him." He says but Gabriella shakes her head again.

"It doesn't matter. You can't say that alright?" She says while he gives her a small smile.

"You have to say that. You're my girlfriend." He says while Gabriella shakes her head one more time.

"I've never had a sibling, but you can't compare yourself to someone else Troy. You are unbelievable, and I love you for that." She says while placing a hand on his cheek and watches as he leans into her touch.

"I wish you could have met him." He says while grabbing her hand and lacing it with his again.

"I'm sure if he was anything like you… he was amazing." She says.

Troy smiles a little again and nods. "He was." He says while then sighing. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He says while leaning his forehead against hers, recovering from his pain quickly, or hiding it, Gabriella wasn't quite sure which one it was.

"Don't worry about it." She whispers back as their lips connect for a moment. "But is that it? No more secrets?" She asks while Troy shakes his head gently.

"No more secrets. I promise." He says while kissing her gently on the lips again.

"Good." Gabriella says while moving back on the bed. Troy still had a distant, somewhat sad look on his face, but Gabriella figures that it was just because he had been talking about his brother. It must have been an extremely hard thing to talk about, but she was happy he did it.

Troy sighs and shakes his head slightly while standing up. "I should probably head back." He says but Gabriella shakes her head.

"Let Taylor and Chad have their room." She says with a small, tempting smile on her face. "Sleep here."

Troy's smile breaks out onto his face again. "You sure?"

Her head nods as she stares into his eyes like she was looking at the world. "More then sure."

Troy beams as he walks over and Gabriella slips under the covers while Troy climbs in after her. She closes her eyes and suddenly feels a protective arm slip around her waist. She smiles as Troy's body closes the gap between them. She turns around in his arms and smiles at him, seeing the love in his piercing blue eyes. "I love you." He whispers while Gabriella smiles back at him.

"I love you too." She says back while then feeling Troy's lips connect with hers. She sighs into the kiss, thanking God for Troy's determination, since there was no where else she would rather be but in his arms right now.


	24. Love You Back

Troy's body couldn't move, not that he would want to anyways. The sun was boring in through the window as he could hear her even breathing beside him. His hand was running up and down her bare arm as her small stomach moved up and down with each breath she took. It was transfixing to look at. Everything about her was beautiful. The way her hair draped over her shoulders, the way her body curled to his while they were spooning, just everything. He couldn't believe he went that long without her. But what he couldn't believe more is that she actually took him back,

He was happy with his decision to tell her about Aaron. It had happened so long ago, but it still tore him up inside. Even though Troy couldn't stand the fact that everyone loved him, he still loved Aaron more then anyone. He was his brother, and basically best friend. After he died, it seemed that Troy subconsciously decided that he was going to do the best he could to make up for it. He was the kind of player that Aaron would have been, which would explain his competitiveness. He wanted to make his brother proud.

Troy suddenly feels Gabriella stir beneath his arm as her body tenses for a moment stretching, then relaxes as she turns around in his arms. He smiles a little as he sees her perfectly smooth face. The long eyelashes flutter a little as they then open up to reveal her deep brown orbs. She smiles softly and then opens her mouth for a yawn. "Hey…" She says while lacing their fingers underneath the blankets.

"Hey yourself." He says while pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You know… I could get used to this." He says while Gabriella's head lay back down on the white pillow.

"Get used to what?" She asks as his hand begins to caress hers with his thumb.

"You waking up next to me." He says with a smile as Gabriella rolls her eyes and he kisses her softly. "We should ask Tay to switch rooms with me."

Gabriella rolls her eyes again and turns over so she was facing the ceiling. "Yeah, that will go over with the rest of the team great."

He shrugs as he kisses her shoulder gently. "Hell, it's worth a shot."

She looks back at him and smiles a little. He lays on his back while she brings her body up to rest her head on his chest and drapes a leg over his own. Troy could feel the small, familiar throb start to form, but he turns to her and smiles. "Hey… did I tell you the good news?"

Troy laughs a little. "Gab… you haven't talked to me in almost two weeks."

Gabriella smiles a little as he could feel her finger drawing circles on his bare chest. "Well, that's not the point. Guess who got the senior solo for the final showcase?" She asks while Troy's smile suddenly grows.

"Sharpay?" He asks teasing her, but Gabriella rolls her eyes again and slaps his chest playfully.

"No, me!" She says while beaming as Troy's mouth matches hers. He pulls her into a hug and then kisses her lightly, finding somehow to roll on top of her and resting his elbows on either side of her in the process.

"Congratulations. I'm proud of you." He says against her lips as she beams up at him. "Is that what you were doing that one day you stayed after?"

Gabriella nods. "But someone thinks I'm too stiff." She says while Troy rolls his eyes.

"You were." He says and then leans down to kiss her again. "Maybe I should help you loosen up." He says seductively against her lips.

Suddenly, there was a click and then the door crashes open. Troy reflexively rolls off Gabriella, who then sits up and looks at the door to see that Taylor was running in with Chad at her heels and panic stretched across her face. "Brie! We can't find Troy!" Taylor exclaims while Troy laughs a little at the fact that he was sitting right there, yet she was too frantic to even notice him. Chad seemed calm, probably knowing Troy was in here somewhere.

"Wait… what?" Gabriella asks while glancing down at Troy who was smirking up at her.

"Tay… calm down." Chad says while looking at Taylor. He obviously knew Troy was safe because of the talk they had the past night. "I already told you he's fine."

Troy's body pops up from the bed and Taylor's eyes grow wide. "For once man, you're right." He says while standing up, revealing him in his basketball shorts.

Gabriella giggles a little as Chad rolls his eyes. Taylor sighs and shakes her head. "We thought you got wasted and drown or something."

Chad looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "Wait… we?"

She rolls her eyes again while Gabriella giggles her sweet laugh that Troy loved. It was just like Taylor to worry about things that weren't that big of a deal. "Well, I didn't." He says with a smirk while Gabriella throws the covers off of her body and stands up as well. Troy couldn't help but smile as she arches her back, revealing her flat stomach.

Taylor sighs and sits down on her own bed. "So I take it you two are fine?" Chad asks while Troy nods slowly and wraps an arm around Gabriella, pulling her closer.

"Yeah… we're good." She responds while smiling brightly up at him.

"Finally." Taylor says while Chad sits down next to her. "Shar and I were gonna lock you two in a room and handcuff you until you guys figured it out."

Troy's mouth forms another smile as he looks down at Gabriella. "That might not be a bad idea…"

Gabriella rolls her eyes and hits his chest. "Keep dreaming Bolton."

Troy smiles and shrugs. "You know you'd want to…"

"Ok guys, we're still here." Chad says while looking at them.

"Sorry." Gabriella says while she wraps both arms around Troy's torso. "I wanna go to the beach." She says while Troy's hand was running up and down Gabriella's bare arm. "We only have a couple weeks left and I want to make the most of it."

The two on the bed nod as Gabriella gets out of Troy's grasp, against Troy's wishes and grabs her swimsuit. She then opens another drawer and tosses him his own. "So, you didn't burn my clothes?" He asks while Gabriella giggles a little.

"I wanted to, but I'd figure you'd beat me up for it." She says with a smile on her face.

"Wow, you're so nice." He says while Gabriella giggles and hits his chest with her suit flirtingly.

"I am." She says while walking towards the bathroom, Troy watching her the whole way.

* * *

A giggle erupts from her throat as she could feel his hands rest on her hips. Gabriella smiles up into the crystal blue eyes as the waves splash up around them. She feels herself be pulled under for a moment, before returning to the surface and moves the hair that was sticking to her forehead out of her eyes to see that Troy had returned as well. "I'm gonna miss this." She says while they continue to bob up and down in the water.

Sharpay and Zeke had also joined them at the girls' pool, while Jason was over with the rest of the guys at their hotel. The couple, along with Taylor and Chad, were somewhere on the deck, trying to get as tan as humanly possible, while Gabriella and Troy were in the ocean. "Gonna miss what? Seeing me with out a shirt on everyday?"

She giggles a little as she shakes her head. "No… I could get that anytime." She says somewhat seductively as Troy smirks at her and gives her a light kiss with his wet lips.

"Yeah… that's true." He says while still smiling.

Gabriella feels his hand try to connect with hers underwater even though the waves were trying to pull them apart. "I'm just going to miss this! All of it." She says with a sigh. "What's East High like?" She asks. It would be a weird question, since she knew a lot of the people in her class already, but she had only been there once when they met the principal.

Troy shrugs. "I don't know. Like any other high school. Except everyone had like… major school spirit."

Gabriella smiles at him. "It's gonna be weird. You left for the summer without a girlfriend, and now you're coming back with one. What are they gonna say?" She asks while Troy smiles and her and swims closer to her.

"They're gonna be jealous that I have the hottest girl in school." He says while giving her another light kiss on the lips again.

She smiles as she grabs his hand and they start to swim towards the beach again. There weren't that many people out today, but a few people from other teams for her dance camp wave to her, whom she waves back to once they could stand again. Troy grabs her hand and laces it together. Gabriella couldn't believe that less than twenty-four hours ago, she was seriously considering not forgiving him. Now, she knew she couldn't live with out him.

They walk up the stairs leading away from the beach and to the deck of the pool, when Gabriella suddenly looks left to see that Amber and Brittany were laying there, Amber in her black and extremely revealing suit. Troy's eyes lock on her for a moment too, but Gabriella knew she had nothing to worry about when he looks down at her and smirks. "You look forty times better in a bikini."

Gabriella smiles as they take the long way to make sure they didn't pass the two girls. They walk until the see the familiar blonde lying in the same chair that Zeke was in with her white sunglasses on, along with Taylor and Chad holding hands while lying in chairs side by side. "Took you too long enough." Sharpay exclaims while Gabriella rolls her eyes.

"Sorry?" She says as Sharpay takes her glasses off. It was hard for Gabriella to imagine this girl liking her own boyfriend, but then again, Troy was so irresistible, who wouldn't like him?

"We were beginning to think you guys got lost." Taylor says while rising her head up. Gabriella rolls her eyes and feels Troy's arm drape over her shoulders.

"Maybe we should have gotten lost." He mumbles while Gabriella giggles.

"Uh… you guys make me sick." Sharpay says as Gabriella feels Troy's arm pull her closer to him.

"That's your problem." He says while sitting down in a beach chair next to Zeke, pulling Gabriella's hand down with him. She falls into his lap and giggles again as he kisses her bare shoulder.

She leans back into his chest as the two of them just sit there silently. Gabriella's eyes move over to the brunette that was sitting several feet away. "She's so pissed at me." She says while Troy looks down at her, scrunching his eyebrows in the cutest way.

"Amber? Why?" He asks while drawing invisible circles on her stomach from behind.

"I stole her senior solo." She says while Troy rolls his eyes.

"She'll get over it." He says before placing a kiss on her back, making her squirm a little. "You'll look hotter doing it anyways."

She laughs and turns her head around, staring into his gorgeous blue eyes. "You have to say that… you're my boyfriend."

He shrugs while leaning back. Gabriella scoots backwards too and rests her head onto his chest. He wraps an arm around her and kisses her forehead gently. "I don't have to, it's the truth." Gabriella smiles a little while looking up at him.

"Thanks…" She says while feeling him kiss her head again. She wraps her arm across his chest while his lips make their way down the side of her head and then connect with her own. It was slow and passionate, but Gabriella feels her hand come up to the side of his face and tries to bring him closer to her.

"Seriously, there are people watching." Sharpay says while the two pull apart. Troy rolls his eyes as Sharpay shakes her head.

"Get a room or something." Chad adds in. Gabriella giggles a little until she suddenly feels Troy leave her back behind her and stand up.

She narrows her eyes at him in a curious manner. "Let's go." He says while gathering their towels.

"Um… go where?" She asks while he smiles at her and leans down so they were eye level. She could see the passion in his eyes as the piercing blue bore into her own deep brown. A seductive smirk was playing on his lips and he presses his to hers gently.

"They told us to get a room, let's get one." He says while wiggling his eyebrows.

Gabriella smiles as she stands up as well. "We'll see you guys later." She says while waving as Troy takes her hand. She could see Sharpay rolling her eyes, along with the others giving knowing looks to exactly where they were going. Troy takes her hand and Gabriella glances across the pool to see that Amber had completely left the area.

They walk towards the back of the hotel and into the lobby. Her body immediately tenses up as she sees the brunette talking with what looked like Brittany, flustered about something. Gabriella glances towards the stairs, trying to find the best way they could get there without the captain seeing. But the piercing green eyes lock on the dark brown as Troy tries to drag her towards the stairs.

"So you two are peachy again." She says while strolling over. Gabriella could feel her eyes narrow. "Is everything ok?"

Gabriella couldn't tell if she was trying to rub in her face how they were fighting or if she was really just curious unto why they were fighting. "We've never been better." Troy exclaims while Gabriella could feel his arm pull her body closer to him.

"Good." She says while raising her eyebrows a little. "We wouldn't want Brie to be stressed out even more so the solo doesn't go well." She says with her smooth smile on her face that Gabriella really wanted to rip into tiny pieces.

"Don't worry. I'll nail it." She says with emphasis in her voice.

Amber smiles sweetly at her. "Good. Because I've seen the seniors in the past. But… yours should be perfect. After all, you are the best." She says while looking Gabriella up and down in a mocking manner.

"Stop it alright?" Troy says while Gabriella's eyes grow wide. Amber's do the exact same. Did he just say what she thought he said? Usually, Troy was nice to her; he was friends with her wasn't he?

"What?" Amber asks in shock.

Troy shakes his head while removing the arm from Gabriella's shoulders and grabbing her hand. "Gab is gonna nail it, so you don't have to worry about her alright?" He says as Gabriella smiles a little. He pulls her hand so they start walking towards the stairs. Gabriella turns her head around briefly to see that Amber was still standing there in shock.

As soon as the door closes to the stairwell, Gabriella turns to him and raises her eyebrows. "What the hell was that?" She asks while Troy keeps leading her up the steps.

"She can fuck herself." He says while Gabriella's eyes were still wide.

"Troy!" She exclaims while they make it up a flight and he shrugs.

"What? She almost broke us up, you can't tell me you're not pissed at her." He states while opening the door, revealing the open hallway.

"I am, it's just… aren't you friends with her?" She asks while Troy rolls his eyes.

"Why would I be friends with someone who treats my girlfriend like shit?" He asks while Gabriella smiles brightly.

"I love you, did you know that?" She says while they find the door and he leans back against it for a moment. Gabriella presses her body against his so their pelvises rub dangerously. He smiles and shrugs.

"Hell… everyone does." He says while Gabriella rolls her eyes and grabs her key out of the bag she was holding.

"Thanks Mr. Cocky." She says while sliding the white key into the door and then waiting for the light to turn green.

"But you're lucky." He says while grabbing the door handle and leading them inside. The door shuts as he wastes no time in crashing his lips against hers. She sighs into the kiss and wraps her arms around his neck.

He backs them up over to her bed and falls back on it. Gabriella's legs immediately straddle his torso as he continues to back them up so his head was on the pillow while Gabriella's body was leaning down to continue kissing him. "Why is that?" She asks as their lips part for a moment to get air.

Troy's body flips over so Gabriella was under him. He smiles down at her as he leans his forehead against hers, staring into her deep brown eyes with his piercing blue that were filled with love.

"Because I love you back."

**A/N: **I know this chapter is short, but it's a filler. I just wanted to warn everyone, there are two chapters left. I know this story is A LOT shorter then Time Changes Everything and Can't Just Be Friends, but it's coming to a close. I kind of think I rushed it a bit, because I wanted to try not taking it slow and jumping into their relationship. But I realize that's not my style of writing. So, yeah, there are two chapters left. I'll be coming out with a new story when I end this one, but that story is going to be a lot heavier and different then anything I've written so far. People were saying how I tend to have the same sort of story line, just different situations, and I can see where they're coming from. But this new one is something totally different. Anyways, thanks so much for reading and for your reviews! You guys are amazing!


	25. Showcase

"Come on, just relax." Taylor tries to calm her down as Gabriella could feel her muscles starting to rebel against her. The dark lit backstage was making their stage make up glow as she could hear the music pumping through the speakers. To say she was nervous was the understatement of the century. She was more then nervous, she was completely petrified. She had no idea that this was open to the public to watch. She had no idea tourists came to see this show, or that parents flew down to watch. There had to be at least two hundred people in the audience and no one told her this before.

"I'm trying!" Gabriella spits back with panic laced in her voice. They were up in four performances. Every bone in Gabriella's body was shaking. She couldn't do this. Sure, over the last few weeks she had nailed the solo with grace, and she had done this a hundred times, but there was just something about her surroundings this made her freak out. This wasn't abnormal though, every recital she had ever performed in she seemed to have a mental break down.

"Brie… breathe in ok?" Sharpay says while grabbing her shoulders. She could see that her eye shadow was bright blue that she knew were on her own eyes as well to match with their blue and silver costumes. Her hands were shaking in the silver armband she was wearing along with her knees in her black dance shoes.

She looks to the side to see the familiar brunette. For once, Amber didn't have the smooth look on her face. For the past couple weeks, both she and Marcus had seemed to leave Gabriella alone, probably because they had broken up a week ago, but she knew that Amber would never change her ways. But at least for now, she looked just as nervous as everyone else, almost humanizing her.

"I know I know!" She says while waving air into her face to try to calm her down. "I need some air." She says while searching for the stage door to leave. The other girls were looking at her, whispering and asking each other if she was alright, but Gabriella couldn't here them. Once she locates the gray door in the back of the stage, she runs to it, tripping on multiple cords in the process. But she regains composer as she briskly walks past the group that was on deck, who all looked just as pale as her.

The showcase was being held at a local theater down town, and as she walks out into the dark hallway, she could feel dust fill her lungs as she tries to take deep breaths. Her long, tan legs begin pacing back and forth on the dark wooden floor. She couldn't do this. She had done a million solos before, but this was more nerve wracking then anything she could have ever imagined.

She was pretty sure there were Scouts from different performing groups coming as well. No one was kidding when they said that this camp was one of the best out there. Her feet stop pacing as she looks up into the oak colored trophy case sitting on the opposite wall to the door. There were pictures of a company, all with dark skin and who looked beautiful the way their bodies moved. She found that it was so much easier looking at this then thinking about what was to come in only a few more minutes.

"How is it you can still look so fucking sexy even when you're nervous as hell?" A voice enters the hallway that suddenly makes Gabriella's butterflies cease the slightest. Her head turns around to see perfection walking towards her in a yellow polo that seemed to make his skin glow.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, not meaning to sound rude, but finding it odd that her boyfriend was in the same hallway as her at the exact same time.

"Tay slipped out the side door and told me you were having an anxiety attack." He says while smiling and showing his bright white teeth.

Gabriella rolls her eyes as she hears his footsteps stop echoing around the hallway as he places two hands on her waist, but Gabriella doesn't relax in his grasp like she normally did. "I'm not having an anxiety attack." She says defensively even though deep down she felt like she was.

Troy smiles as he rolls his eyes. "Ok… so are you ok?" He asks while Gabriella kept taking deep breaths.

"Oh yea, great, there are only like… two-hundred people watching, along with scouts for companies. I'm fantastic." She says sarcastically while still breathing in the dusty air.

"Come here." Troy says while pulling her body to him and wrapping his arms around her lower back while she remains stiff in them. "You're the best dancer I've ever met, if anyone can nail this solo it's you alright?" He says while rubbing her back soothingly. Gabriella's arms which were extremely tense before, suddenly relax as she closes her eyes and does her best not to wipe her stage make-up off onto his yellow shirt.

"I know… it's just scary." She says while Troy kisses the top of her head that was caked with hairspray since it was pulled up in a half pony tails with curls.

"You're gonna do great. I know you will." He says while she smiles slightly. The past weeks with him had been incredible, and she defiantly wouldn't trade them for the world. They had their fights here and there, but they had decided to take things a little slower then what they first had, not jumping into sex and Gabriella knew that them waiting would defiantly pay off in the end.

"You have to say that…" She says while pulling away from him to stare into his piercing blue eyes that were boring down at her with love shining through them.

"No I don't, and I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it." He says while gently kissing her forehead, Gabriella not caring that he might mess up her cover-up.

She suddenly hears a round of applause erupt from behind the door. She sighs as she looks back up to him, seeing that he was smiling down at her encouragingly. With another deep breath, she nods as if he had said something and lets the breath out.

"Ok… I can do this." She says more to herself then to Troy.

He places another kiss onto her forehead and holds her for a moment. "That's my girl."

Gabriella nods again as she pulls apart. "I should get back."

"Yeah." Troy responds as he runs his warm, comforting hands up and down her arms. "You'll do great ok?"

Gabriella nods and gives him a warm smile. "Thanks Troy."

He smiles back and the leans down. The both move their heads to the side a little as though to kiss the side of their lips so Gabriella wouldn't mess up her perfect stage make-up. "I love you ok?" He says while he takes a step backwards. "And… if you do good in this, then I'll make it up to you." He says while wiggling his eyebrows.

Gabriella rolls her eyes. "How about a footrub tonight?"

Troy smiles back at her and smirks. "Play your cards right and that could turn into a full body rub."

Gabriella giggles as she gives him a small wave. "You wish Bolton."

He starts walking backwards while smirking. "Kick some ass Gab." He says while she opens the door and blows him a kiss. "I'll be watching."

Although someone else might find that intimidating, Gabriella found this surprisingly comforting that he would be there. So she walks in the door, so much more calm then she was when she left, and walks towards where the rest of the team was standing, their faces paling with every second that went by.

Gabriella looks at her best friend and gives her a weak smile. "Thanks Tay. I needed that."

Taylor gives her another weak smile back, but Gabriella could tell her body was shaking with nerves. The butterflies were settling in Gabriella's stomach again as she could hear Camilla's voice pierce through the claps of the audience. "We're on deck, let's move!"

Gabriella smiles as she turns to Taylor and holds out her hand. Taylor takes it, while they both give each other a hard squeeze. Sharpay grabs Taylor's other hand, and Gabriella smiles, thinking how amazing her friends were, and she had only known then for three months now. "Good luck." Taylor says while Gabriella could feel her hands shaking a little again.

The music of the other group stops and Gabriella could hear the clapping. She glances around the blue curtain, swearing that off to the side a little; she could see the glow of a pair of two piercing blue eyes, giving her the strength and confidence to do this.

"Five, six, seven, eight…" She hears Camilla's voice as they all walk out in step together as the lights go black. Gabriella's mouth immediately forms a smile, a reflex she did when she was on stage. Her legs fold beneath her as she sinks down into a splits in front of the rest of the Augusta group, along with her own Wildcats. This was her time to shine, and no one else's.

The crowd stops clapping as the lights suddenly turn on. She was completely blinded and couldn't see anything in the audience. The music suddenly plays, but she wasn't listening. She was hearing the counts that were replaying in her head. Finally, her body moves up from the position she was in while her smile grows bigger, if that was even possible.

Everything was wiped clean from her mind, as all she could remember was it was the pitter patter of the feet floating across the stage that made her fall in love.

* * *

"Holy shit! You were fucking amazing!" Troy exclaims for the thousandth time as Gabriella giggles as little and feels his arm pull her closer to his body. Gabriella smiles up at him as the tiki tourches make his face glow, along with the perfection that glowed with it.

"Troy's right Brie. You nailed it." Chad says while taking a sip of whatever was in his cup and smiling at her.

"Thanks Chad." She says while taking her own sip of the water bottle she was holding. It was about four hours after they had performed, and they were now standing on a platform of a local club that was about for miles from El Calor, but this one was above ground with the moon shinning down on all of them. Basically, the entire dance camp had decided to come here after their performance. Gabriella's smile couldn't be wiped off her face. Everything she did tonight was perfect, and Chad was right, she nailed it.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah but did you really expect anything else?" Sharpay asks while holding onto Zeke's hand tightly. Gabriella smiles at her friend and Troy kisses the top of her head in response.

"I told you you could do it." He says while she beams up and him.

"And you own me a foot rub." She says while Troy sighs as though he was distressed about it.

"Damn it and I thought you'd forgot." He says jokingly as Gabriella rolls her eyes but feels his arm pull her closer, if that was even possible.

"No way…" She responds while beaming up at him.

Her eyes suddenly move down from his as she watches a familiar brunette walking towards her. Amber hadn't said a word to her all night, but Gabriella just assumed that was because she was mad at how amazing Gabriella did, and how there was no way she could do any better. But she didn't look extremely now as she finally stops in front of the group that consitied of Troy, Chad, Zeke, Sharpay, and Taylor since Jason was off to the side, probably on the phone with his girlfriend who Gabriella was going to meet soon.

"Well… you seemed to cover everyone's expectations." She says while looking Gabriella up and down. She steps forward for a moment, out of Troy's grasp almost as if to show she didn't need her boyfriend to protect her from anything. She could handle it on her own.

"Thanks." She says while taking Amber's trick while looking her up and down. "I'm glad you feel that way.

She gives Gabriella a smile that she could tell if it was fake or real. Gabriella finally figures that it was just the way Amber was, you could never tell what she was thinking, but you really shouldn't worry about it either. "You must be happy." She says with a little edge of jealousy to her voice.

Gabriella smiles and glances back to see that Troy had a smirk on his face. "You could say that."

She smiles a little and sighs. "You must be excited to head back to the states then, Zoey will love to see something like that."

Gabriella wasn't sure if she was trying to intimate her or not, but it wasn't really bothering her so she shrugs. "Well… you're the captain, you would know."

Amber's smirk falls a little as she glances back at Troy also. "I wouldn't want to interrupt anything." She says while turning back to Gabriella. "See ya."

With that, Amber turns around and walks in the other direction. Gabriella rolls her eyes after her as she feels two arms wrap around her waist as she smiles while feeling a wet kiss on her cheek. "What was that about?"

Gabriella shrugs but then glances back into his blue eyes. "Who knows, who cares. Come on…" She says while turning around smiling brightly at him. She grabs both of his hands while starts to pull him backwards towards the white platform that had pillars reaching over forty feet with what looked like a see-through canopy over head. "Dance with me."

Troy smirks as he shakes his head a little. "Don't you ever get enough dancing?" He asks but Gabriella could still feel his feet move forwards.

She smiles innocently back at him. "Do you ever get enough basketball?"

Troy finally takes a few steps forward, spinning her around so they were now walking side by side with their hands laced. "Nah… it's one of the things on my list that I don't get enough of." He says while they finally make it to the dance floor to listen to the rap music sending surges through Gabriella's body. Even though her legs hurt a little from dancing, she still was on the high from the showcase and could feel the energy rush through her veins.

He spins her arm so she was now facing away from him as she could feel two hands slip on her waist and begin moving his hips to the rhythm. She smiles as her hands grab his and lace together, pushing her butt up against his groin. "And what else is on this list?" She asks while Troy's hand drop lower on her hips.

"Oh you know, peanut butter and jelly, ESPN… you." He says the last part in a husky voice while brushing his lips against her ear.

Gabriella could feel shivers run through her body at the touch as she giggles a little. "Well I'm glad I'm luck enough to make the list." She says while Troy's mouth drops down and connects with her neck. It didn't take long for him to find her sweet spot, which had now basically turned into his spot. She feels electrical currents rush through her body at the touch as her hand wrap around the back of his neck.

"You're at the top." He says as his lips dance to the beat of the music against her neck.

"Aren't I special?" She whispers while turning her head to the side a little to give him a better access.

"You are." He whispers again while Gabriella smiles lazily. Her eyes scan over the crowd as she could feel Troy's hips drop lower and she could feel a small poke begin to form against her butt.

"Can't we just skip the plane ride home on Monday and stay here?" Gabriella begs even though she knew Troy had nothing to do with it. He chuckles a little against her neck as he lifts his head up and away.

"Sorry Gab… my parents would flip." He says while Gabriella giggles a little.

"We can just say we got lost." She says innocently as Troy laughs a little again.

"Then you defiantly won't be on my parent's good side." He says, reminding her how it was funny that they had been dating for this long, and she had no idea what his parents looked like yet.

"You're no fun." She says while spinning around in his arms and feeling her pelvis rub against his. Troy smiles seductively at her and leans down. She could feel his warm lips press against hers as his tongue wastes no time to slip into her mouth. She wraps her arms around his neck while Troy's hands were on the small of her back.

He pulls apart and leans down into her ear. "I can be. I still owe you that massage."

Gabriella could feel her cheeks get a little red at the thought as she smiles up into his piercing blue eyes that were filled with lust and love at the same time. "You're right." She says while then pulling away from him for a moment. She grabs his hand and touches the top of her hair gently, to see that it was still formed into place from all the hairspray she had used hours ago.

She leads him off the platform and looks to see that Sharpay and Zeke had gone dancing, while Taylor and Chad were talking with Jason about something off to the side. She could see the dark, almost black eyes lock on the two as Chad's afro bounces a little. "Hey!" He calls while throwing his arm up. "Where you going?"

Gabriella giggles a little as she could feel Troy's lips on her neck. "Don't bother coming to the room tonight man." Troy says while Gabriella turns around to see his smile was huge.

Chad rolls his eyes as Troy grabs her hand again. "The condoms are in the nightstand!"

Gabriella giggles again as she watches Taylor slap his bicep. "Chad!"

Troy smirks down at her, both knowing that they weren't going to need them, since even though they loved each other; Gabriella knew that they weren't ready for sex yet. But that didn't mean that foreplay was out of the question.

"God he's an idiot." Troy says while they walk out the doors of the club. Gabriella glances at the huge bouncer standing at the door, while reflexively increasing her speed, not wanting to get busted for not being eighteen yet.

"That's alright. You two are perfect for each other then." She says with a smile on her face as she drops Troy's hand.

He stares at her in pretend shock for a moment, before shaking his head. Gabriella could feel her feet start to move as she runs towards the road. But before she could get there, Troy runs in front of her and picks her up. Gabriella's back bends a little as Troy dips her slightly, and then presses his lips against hers in a passionate kiss that wouldn't be broken up for the world.


	26. Just Him

Gabriella's eyes glance towards the hard window as all she could see was ocean beneath her. Her small body adjusts on the uncomfortable seat as she turns to the side to see the dark girl was reading a magazine. Gabriella could almost taste the decompressed air as she folds her flexible legs up, cross legged and hits the next button on her pink ipod, hearding the new song play in her ears. "I can't sit for this long." Gabriella says while leaning back on the chair.

Taylor pops a white bubble on her gym next to her as she smiles a little and turns the page in her magazine. "So… not big on flying huh?"

Gabriella shakes her head as she sits in the chair with a pair of black soccer warm ups pants on and a grey t-shirt. "No, it's not bad. I just hate breathing the air." She says while Taylor finally looks up from her magazine and raises an eyebrow.

"You don't like breathing _the air_?" She asks with emphasis on the last part like it was the dumbest thing she had ever heard. "You could not breathe for hours." She jokes while Gabriella smiles and rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, that will be great." She says while the two laugh a little. Gabriella couldn't believe how amazing of a friend she had now in Taylor, and yeah, she missed her old friends, but she wouldn't trade her new ones in for the world.

"You nervous for next week?" Taylor asks and it takes Gabriella a moment to remember what next week actually was. She sighs and shrugs.

"I don't know. I mean, I know you guys. I'm just scared that the girls at East High are going to beat me up for stealing their 'golden boy'." She says while subconsciously trying to look over seats to find her boyfriend, who was sitting next to Chad a few rows back.

Taylor rolls her eyes. "They'll get over it." She says while glancing down at her magazine again. Gabriella suddenly hears a loud noise come from in front of her as both her head and Taylor's head shoot up to look at each other.

"No! I'm not going to do that." She hears the familiar high pitched blonde's voice. "We are not adding a solo it just so you can have one."

Gabriella and Taylor both roll their eyes at the same time. They were seated with their roommates for the ride home, and Sharpay and Amber were stuck next to each other for one final time. Gabriella was pretty sure it was the first time they had actually talked to each other since their little outburst about Troy. That was one thing that was probably never going to change, and Gabriella found it amusing more then she found it annoying.

Taylor's head looks backwards in the aisle. Her eyes seem to lock on something as Gabriella raises her eyebrows to see Taylor's head turn back with a smile beaming on her face. "I have to go to the bathroom." She says.

Gabriella's eyes lift up to see the faint outline of an afro walking towards the back of the plane. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head at her best friend. "Plane sex? That's hot."

A rose color erupts on Taylor cheeks in a blush as she smiles sheepishly. "I'll be back." She says while looking left and right, then walking towards the back of the plane.

Gabriella shakes her head at the thought of how when she first met the two, they were just starting to take their relationship up to boyfriend and girlfriend. She grabs the magazine that was sitting on Taylor's now empty seat, figuring that she was probably going to be in the bathroom for awhile, so she had some time to herself.

But that time was suddenly shortened as she feels someone sit down next to her while she was staring at the magazine. The musky scent of the familiar cologne fills her nostorls as she smiles while continuing to look down at the magazine. "Took you long enough." She says while a hand pulls the magazine down.

"I had to convince Chad to take Tay somewhere." Troy says while leaning forward and cupping his hand to her face. Gabriella smiles at his touch while he leans forward and connects their lips in a sweet, yet sensual kiss. Gabriella's right arm wraps around his neck, and she didn't care that everyone could have been watching right now. Their lips part as he leans her head up against hers.

"So… the plane sex was your idea?" She asks while Troy smirks a little.

He scratches the back of his neck nervously. "Well… I kinda, sorta, said that it would be hot to have sex in the airplane bathroom, and it was too bad you and I hadn't done it yet, so it would be such a waste." He says while wiggling his eyebrows while Gabriella giggles. "I had to get Taylor out of the seat somehow." He says while Gabriella rolls her eyes.

"The things you come up with Troy Bolton." She says while feeling her hand lace with his. Troy lifts up the arm rest that was sitting in-between them and wraps his arm around her shoulders. She smiles at his touch and then leans her head down onto his shoulder, finding the seats so much more comfortable then what they were a minute ago.

"As long as I could get to you." He says while smiling and Gabriella giggles again.

She buries her head further into his neck, taking in his scent as she could feel his hand run up and down her outside arm, sending shivers through her body. Gabriella's hand was running up and down his knee, and she could feel him tremble a little beneath her hand.

"So… how's your mom?" He asks, more asking about what she was like then how she actually was. Gabriella giggles, finding it funny once again how neither of them had met the other's parents.

"She's nice, and wants what's best for me." She says while smiling at him as a nervous look crosses his face. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll love you."

Troy rolls his eyes. "That's what they all say."

"She's the reason I came down in the first place. Otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here next to you." Gabriella informs him while Troy smiles at her.

"Then I like her already." He says while planting a kiss on her forehead.

"What about your parents?" She asks while Troy shrugs.

"They'll love you, don't worry. Especially my mom. She's really pumped to meet you, it's kinda annoying." He says while Gabriella giggles.

"And who wouldn't?" She says and Troy rolls his eyes.

"Cocky much?" He asks while she rolls her own eyes and slaps his chest.

"I wonder who I learn it from…" She says while he smiles and backs her up so her back was touching the window.

"You're hot, sexy boyfriend?" He says cockily and huskily while talking against her lips. Gabriella could feel shivers run down her back as she smiles at him.

"Or my obnoxiously cocky boyfriend." She says, but was still smiling as Troy closes the gap between them. Gabriella arm wraps around Troy's neck again as she could feel him push her body up against the side of the plane even more.

"And they say WE'RE horny." Gabriella could hear a voice come from above as she opens her eyes. Troy does as well and looks in the aisle to see that Chad and Taylor were both standing there, hand in hand. Gabriella giggles a little as Taylor's hair seemed to be a lot bigger and more knotted then before as she swore she could see a bead of sweat run down the side of Chad's face.

Troy rolls his eyes at his best friend. "Dude… don't even talk."

"How was you're um… bathroom time?" Troy asks while wiggling his eyebrows at his best friend. Taylor's cheeks flood red as Gabriella giggles.

"That was fast." She responds as Taylor's cheeks get even redder, if that was possible.

"Yeah. well, we're fast um…" Chad tries to defend himself.

"Really? You can go that fast?" Troy says while raising his eyebrows again.

Chad laughs while a rush of red bursts on Taylor's cheeks. Gabriella giggles again as Troy gets off of her and looks back up at them. "So… we're changing seats?" Taylor asks while Troy smiles cheekily.

"Unless you want us to annoy you two for the rest of the trip, then yeah, we're switching." He says while pulling Gabriella closer to him again.

Taylor rolls her eyes as Chad smiles at them. "Now you two behave…"

"Get outta here!" Troy says while waving him away.

Gabriella giggles again while suppressing a yawn as she watches Taylor and Chad roll their eyes as Chad leans down towards Troy. "Someone's anxious." He says while Troy pushes his shoulder away, Gabriella and Taylor giggling as Taylor waves her fingers. They walk back to the seat Troy was occupying before while he turns to Gabriella and tries to cup her face.

"Where were we?" He asks huskily while Gabriella giggles and pushes his face back a lightly with her hand.

"Nowhere since anyone could see." She says while Troy sighs frustrated.

"You owe me Montez." He says while Gabriella rolls her eyes again and leans her head against his chest.

"No I don't." She exclaims while Troy sighs and wraps an arm around her. Gabriella feels a yawn erupt from her mouth, since plane rides make her exhausted.

"You're not playing this game right." He says while rubbing her sides. Gabriella smiles a little as her head slips further down his chest so it was now landing on his stomach instead. Her eyes close as she continues to feel Troy's hand keep rubbing while two warm lips land on the top of her head.

"Who said we were playing a game?" She asks, although it was more mumbled against his hard abs. He laughs a little while kissing the top of her head.

"Someone's tired." He says while she could feel him lean back in the chair in was in as Gabriella nods.

"Just wake me up when we get there." She says while feeling sleep take over her, more relaxed in Troy's arms then in any other place in the world.

* * *

"I'm so happy your home!" Gabriella's mother's voice fills the air as she giggles a little while her mother sets down two bowls of chili down on her bed. Her hands fold the clothes that were in her suitcases and duffle bags. She had been home for about five hours now, remembering how weird it was that she had barely been in this house before she left. It was like moving all over again, only not loosing the friends she had made.

"I'm happy to be home too." Gabriella says while pulling her swimsuit out, smiling a little at the memory of laying out all the time.

"Have some chili." Her mother says while sitting down on her bed. "You need a break."

Gabriella rolls her eyes, but figures this was one of those moment where her mother wanted to be with her daughter she hadn't seen in three months. "Thanks Mom." She says while grabbing her own bowl and feeling the hot substance burn the inside of her mouth as she places it in.

"So… was it as bad as you thought it would be?" Her mother asks her. They had talked about the trip when she had first arrived, but Gabriella was gone for three months, so she understood her mother's desire to know every little detail about her.

"No." Gabriella says with a smile now on her face. She glances down in one of the suitcases to see a white sweatshirt that she had never given back to its owner when he came for his clothes the day before. "I thank you for making me go."

"See? I told you it wouldn't be bad." She says in the motherly 'I told you so' kind of way. But her mom sits more up on the bed and smiles at her daughter. "You're boyfriend…He's cute…" She says while Gabriella's face blushes red.

"Mom!" She whines, since after her mother met Troy, who seemed to be well put together at the time and polite, couldn't stop telling her daughter how cute or nice he was.

"What? You have good taste." She says while Gabriella rolls her eyes. Gabriella also met Troy's parents at the airport. Mrs. Bolton acted just as Troy described, hugging Gabriella after meeting her for the first time, while Troy's dad seemed nice and caring. She could see where Troy got his good traits from.

She could tell her mother was more bubbly then normal, but that was probably because she hadn't seen Gabriella in so long. But her mother was practically her best friend ever since her father left. She still had no idea why her father called her randomly like he did in the beginning of the summer, but she wasn't ready to talk to him yet. Maybe someday she would be, but today wasn't someday.

Almost as if on cue, the doorbell rings and Mrs. Montez stands up. "I'll get that. You eat." She says while Gabriella smiles a little, taking another bite of her first home cooked meal in months.

Her mind was circling a little. What was going to happen when school started next week? She had been thinking about it a lot lately, but who wouldn't? It seemed weird to think that she already knew so many people going in, plus she was dating the basketball captain. She should fit in well right?

She takes another bite and suddenly looks up to see her mom standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. Gabriella immediately feels her heart lift, since the smile was the same one her mother had given her on her first date with Collin. "You can finish packing later. Someone's here to see you."

Gabriella immediately beams and sets the half-eaten bowl of chili down. She dashes down the stairs to see her boyfriend's back was facing her while he seemed to be looking around the house. A smile forms on her face, knowing that they had seen each other five hours ago, but it still felt like a lifetime being apart from him.

"Hey you." She says while the chestnut-brown-haired-blue-eyed-boy turns around. He immediately beams at her while she finishes running down the stairs and jumps into his arms.

Troy leans down and places his lips against hers, but then pulls away quickly; probably scared her mother was watching in the depths somewhere. "Nice place." He mumbles while leaning his forehead against hers.

"Thanks. You've probably been in it as much as I have." She says while glancing around at the tan and cream colored walls that filled her open house.

"Yeah, I forgot about that." He says while then kissing her softly again, before pulling apart and smiling at her. "So how are you?"

Gabriella giggles as she takes his hand and removes it from her waist, lacing their fingers in the process. "Still tired. I'm gonna sleep so well tonight."

Troy nods as he chuckles a little. "Me too. No Chad snoring."

Gabriella giggles as she looks up the stairs to see her mother had a small smile on her face while watching the two. "Mom! We're going outside." She calls, even though she could see her.

Her small fingers open the big white door and she leads Troy outside. Her eyes lock on the unfamiliar small red, what looked like used, car in the driveway. She figures it must have been Troy's, since it fit the description of what he told her in Mexico. The door shuts and they walk out into the grass on the front lawn.

"Uh… I'm gonna miss room service!" Troy says while sitting down in the grass and pulling Gabriella's hand with him.

"Lazy." She says while he looks at her and cocks an eyebrow.

"What was that?" He asks with a mischievous look on his face.

"I called you lazy." She says boldly, while then realizing that was a mistake. Troy's fingers suddenly connect with her stomach as she begins to break out in fits of laughter. He continues to tickle her while she could feel a pressure on her lower body, sending sparks from in between her legs as Troy manages to get on top of her. "Ok, I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

He laughs also as he leans down and whispers in her ear huskily, "Say you love me."

She gives him a bright smile before his fingers stop moving. Her head lifts up and her lips connect with his. Troy's tongue licks her bottom lip as she grants him access, not caring that her new neighbors could see what was going on right now under the stars. Crickets were chirping in the background as Troy finally lets go and she beams up at him. "I love you."

He leans down and kisses her again in a slow and sensual kiss. Gabriella could feel the familiar longing form in between her legs, but then feels Troy disconnect their lips and lay down on the grass next to her. She sighs and places her head onto his chest, looking up at the black sky with thousands of sparkling dots, shining down on them.

"I never wanted to go." Gabriella says while lacing her and Troy's hands together.

He raises an eyebrow and looks at her. "Go where?"

She sighs as the crickets begin to chirp louder. "To Mexico. I was afraid of something new. But guess what?"

Troy's head turns to the side so his piercing blue orbs were staring back at her. "What?"

She leans up and connects their lips together again. They move as one, no, dance as one as Gabriella could feel that it was almost as if in slow motion. Even her love seemed to have a dance theme. She couldn't get enough of either one.

Their lips part as she smiles at him. "It was the best thing that ever happened to me."

She didn't have to say it, but both of them knew that she meant he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. He smiles at her and then leans over, his drowning ocean blue eyes staring into her deep brown, with all the love and passion he could muster. "Me too."

Their lips connect again as the stars twinkled above them. Gabriella had lived her life thinking that dance was the only thing that could make her happy. But as she lay in the prickling grass, with the love of her life leaning over her with their lips dancing together, she finally understood that was completely wrong. It wasn't dancing that controlled her life, it was the love that dancing brought her. But now, she had a different love, perfection itself. And to her, that was all she really needed.

No stage, no counts, no costumes…

Just Troy Bolton.

* * *

**A/N: **I just wanted to thank everyone who read this story. I know it wasn't as good as Time Changes Everything, but it was just a fun one to write. You're reviews were amazing and I'm so thankful for everyone who did. This is the last chapter and I will not be writing a sequal. But you guys don't know how much you reading this story really means to me. I'm so thankful for everyone, so thank you a thousand times over again. I really hope you liked it! My new story will be up shortly, so please keep an eye out for that. Once again, thank you so much for reading and your reviews, they mean the world to me!


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